Summary
In a study that surprised no one, Sophos announced that the US is the world's largest spam-producing nation, accounting for 42.1% of the spam sent out worldwide. Though the United States passed the CAN-SPAM act in order to stop the flow of unsolicited email messages, the large number of zombie programs that infect computers to send spam automatically is on the rise. This is especially true in South Korea, which came in a distant second place.
Original source:
http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/56200465
Details
The United States was the 800-pound spam-spewing gorilla throughout 2004, a spot it held from wire to wire throughout the year, an anti-virus firm announced Monday.
According to researchers at U.K.-headquartered Sophos, the U.S. accounted for 42.1 percent of the world's spam, more than three times the next-guiltiest nation, South Korea, which launched 13.4 percent of the globe's junk mail.
China, Canada, and Brazil rounded out the top five.
"When we first reported on the top spamming countries back in February 2004, the U.S. had the excuse that the CAN-SPAM Act had been in existence for a couple of months," said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant for Sophos, in a statement.
"Almost a year and millions of spam messages later, it's quite evident that that the CAN-SPAM legislation has made very little headway in damming the flood of spam."
Sophos, which used its global network of spam honeypots to attract messages to analyze, also noted that countries with high numbers of broadband Internet users are attractive targets to spammers, who often hijack vulnerable PCs, then turn them into spam "zombies" to disguise the real origin of the junk mail.
South Korea, which boasts the world's highest percentage of Internet users that connect via always-on, fast broadband links, is in second place on Sophos' list for that very reason.
"Spammers are motivated by one thing: fast and easy money," said Cluley.
"Many home users' computers are sending out spam because they have had their broadband internet connections exploited by remote hackers.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams launched TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
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Monday, January 24, 2005
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