08 Mar 2004
Sweden takes steps against spam
Swedish lawmakers have belatedly adopted a European Union ban on
spam. The law was passed on 3 March at the 349-seat Riksdag
following a warning
issued by the EU to Sweden and eight other countries who had
not taken steps to legislate against the spam menace last year.
The legislation aims to reduce internet fraud and protect
legitimate businesses by banning companies from sending spam or
stealing personal data from websites. However, the EU has not
detailed how nations should act against spam.
"It's good to see the Swedish authorities taking the problem of
spam more seriously," said Graham Cluley, senior technology
consultant for Sophos. "However, recent statistics have revealed
that over half of all
spam comes from computers based in the United States - beyond
the Swedish legal system's control."
A Swedish government spokesperson said that law would be in
place on 1 April.
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can defend
businesses from the threats of both spam and viruses.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.