Anti-spam specialist maps the spam world
Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against spam and
viruses, has published a report into the countries from which spam
messages originate. Researchers scanned all spam messages received
over two days last week and have revealed a 'dirty dozen' of
offending countries with the United States topping the chart.
The 'dirty dozen' are as follows:
- United States
- Canada
- China (& Hong Kong)
- South Korea
- Netherlands
- Brazil
- Germany
- France
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Mexico
- Spain
|
56.74%
6.80%
6.24%
5.77%
2.13%
2.00%
1.83%
1.50%
1.31%
1.21%
1.19%
1.05%
|
| Others |
12.23% |
Sophos's findings are based upon an analysis of hundreds of
thousands of emails examined by Sophos spam researchers using
honeypots and other measuring systems around the world.
"The United States is far and away the worst offender,
accounting for nearly 60 percent of the world's spam. Even though
European countries are responsible for less spam, they are still
generating millions of junk emails a day," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant at Sophos. "Spam is a global problem, and
countries worldwide are starting to take the issue more seriously.
However, legislation in the UK won't protect users from spam coming
from North America or China."
Sophos research has revealed that although a large amount of
spam is being sent from USA computers, much is being sent without
the computer owner's knowledge.
"Our intelligence suggests that a large amount of spam
originates in Russia, even though it appears at only number 28 in
the chart. Hackers appear to be breaking into computers in other
countries and sending out spam via 'infected' PCs," continued
Cluley. "Some Trojan horses and worms allow spammers to take over
third-party computers belonging to innocent parties, and use them
for sending spam. More than 30 percent of the world's spam is sent
from these compromised computers, underlining the need for a
co-ordinated approach to spam and viruses."
Sophos advises home users, particularly those with broadband
connections to the internet, to ensure their computers are not
unwittingly being used by spammers.