Nine out of ten emails now spam due to activity of criminal gangs

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(NaturalNews) A recent surge in spam email messages seeking to peddle sex, drugs or even unsolicited stock tips are the workings of criminal gangs, according to email security company Postini. In fact, the number of ''spam'' messages being received by an average user has more than tripled in volume since just this past June -- with no letup in sight.

So much spam is being sent and received nowadays that nine out of 10 e-mails sent across the globe are spam, according to the spam prevention company Postini. The company said that it had detected seven billion spam messages in November -- compared to 2.5 billion in June this year.

Spamhaus, another spam monitoring group, has stated that around 200 criminal gangs are running these spam operations and accounting for almost 80 percent of all spam messages sent out globally. Dan Druker of Postini says, "E-mail systems are overloaded or melting down trying to keep up with all the spam."

The main reason for the rise in spam messages is the ability of the hackers to use computer programs that can hijack home PCs. Secretly installed "backdoor" software gives these criminals nearly unlimited power to send out their messages.

"What's clear from this trend is that legislating against spam is not a very successful strategy for stopping it," said Mike Adams, founder of Arial Software and anti-spam technology advocate. "This is why legislation alone will never stop spam. Criminals, by definition, don't follow laws. If we want to genuinely stop the spam problem, we must look at technical solutions that involve modification to the SMTP protocol," Adams said.

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Related Articles: • Interview with John Levine on the War on SPAM • Put an end to spam and phishing by reforming email • Can-Spam Act court ruling obliterates state anti-spam laws, activists say	Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com Email this article to a friend Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/021221_spam_email_marketing_CAN_SPAM_act.html Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. Embed article link: (copy HTML code below): <a href = "http://www.NaturalNews.com/021221_spam_email_marketing_CAN_SPAM_act.html">Nine out of ten emails now spam due to activity of criminal gangs</a>