By: MarkJ - 20 July, 2009 (12:59 PM) - Score: 2698 - Security, Statistics

Junk email (SPAM) remains one of the Internets biggest frustrations, and despite many attempts to combat the problem it continues to account for anything from 75% to 95% of all email messages; depending on where you get your statistics. The latest data from security firm Sophos has revealed which countries are most responsible for its spread, though happily the UK is no longer present.

During the second quarter of 2009, the USA continued to relay more spam than any other country – the nation's 15.6% contribution to global SPAM traffic meaning that 1 in 6 junk emails were sent through compromised computers in the country. In contrast, Russia, a former spam super-power, continues to fall down the ranks (down to 3.2% from being 2nd place with 7.5% last year).


Poland has seen the biggest single increase in spam output since the last quarter, moving up from tenth to sixth place in this global ‘hall of shame’, with the country now responsible for relaying 4.2 percent of all the world's electronic junk messages. Colombia is the only nation to have left the 'Dirty Dozen' since Q1 2009, with Vietnam a new entry this quarter.


Sadly the booming popularity of social networking, Twitter in particular, has driven growth in services such as TinyURL, bit.ly and is.gd. These are used to create shortened links that re-direct to web pages with lengthier URLs. They have also been exploited by hackers to obscure links to malicious websites, and then distribute the links in spam emails, as well as posting them on Twitter and other networks.

The biggest problem with SPAM is not so much the junk itself but rather the 1% of people who make the mistake of encouraging it by clicking on related links. That is all it takes for the problem to continue. So the next time you or somebody you know receives an unsolicited piece of marketing in the email, make sure they know how to delete it and the methods for avoiding future problems (Article - 'Tips For Avoiding SPAM').