According to a mid-year report from TRACElabs, spam is at it’s highest level ever. Previously the highest level recorded was in July of 2008, so this trend suggests that spammers really kick things into high gear during the summer months, and they don’t care one bit about the actions being taken against them.
“The clear message spammers are giving us is that they are unimpeded by the efforts of law enforcement and the security community,” says TRACElabs senior researcher Phil Hay.
With the recent FTC crackdown on Mocolo and 3FN the volume of spam did slow considerably. However, these latest reports show that spammers have hunkered down and brazenly developed better and more resilient systems for keeping themselves in business. According to Hay, “The crime groups running the Waledac, Rustock, Pushdo and Grum spamming botnets continue to be very strong.”
The report also shows that:
- More than 30% of all spam last week came from Asian countries after Vietnam overtook traditional spam powerhouses China, Turkey and Russia for the first time ever.
- Brazil continues to dominate with over 15% of all spam, followed by the USA with 10%.
- Just three specific institutions were the focus of 99.5% of all phishing activity last week: eBay, Bank of America and Comerica.
So despite the fact that organizations are investing more time, money, and resources into the spam problem, the spammers continue to relentlessly pound the unprotected email user with wave after wave of unsolicited messages. These high numbers serve as a reminder that the spam epidemic is not going to disolve anytime soon, so this blogger recommends that you find a good email security service and ride out the storm in comfort.
- Just three specific institutions were the focus of 99.5% of all phishing activity last week: eBay, Bank of America and Comerica.
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