Spam fighters losing ground

21 Sept 2006

Security analysts who monitor and fight spam are warning that the volume and threat from spam is increasing. According to this article, the percentage of spam traffic in e-mail has edged upward in the last few years and may now be up to 90 percent of e-mail traffic, with no reduction in sight. "We see spam just going up to the point where Internet servers start having difficulty," said Steven Linford, chief executive officer of Spamhaus (a London organization that produces a list of spammers).

For most computers, the first defense is an anti-spam program that tries to block spam before it ever reaches your desktop. As much as 98 percent of spam is filtered out this way, but spammers are using a wide variety of tactics to beat the spam blockers to go after the remaining 2 percent. "It's an arms race with spammers," Linford said. 

Things to think about when reading this article

• In spite of heavy investment by ISP’s and security companies in antispam filtering, there’s evidence that spam is still increasing. This means it is ever more critical for you to take precautions when considering what e-mail you open. Get ten tips to help you use e-mail more safely. Read the article.