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Analyst Corner
US Tops List of Spam-relaying Countries
Experts at SophosLabs shave revealed that the US relayed more spam than any other nation, over the third quarter of 2007, accounting for a massive 28.4 percent - meaning that almost one in three of all the world's spam emails is being sent through a compromised US computer. The gap between the US and its nearest rival has also increased significantly, with second placed South Korea only responsible for relaying 5.2 percent, or one in twenty spam messages. The top twelve spam-relaying countries are as follows:
"It seems as though a major American spammer is arrested every other week at the moment, but despite these high-profile lawbreakers being put away, the US continues to relay far more spam than any other nation on the planet," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos. "This level of activity can't be attributed solely to the slick operations of a few cash-hungry criminals. The problem is there are thousands of spammers using many thousands of compromised zombie computers in the US. The only way we're going to reduce the problem is if US authorities invest a lot more in educating computer users of the dangers, while ensuring ISPs step up their monitoring efforts to identify these compromised machines as early as possible."
According to Sophos, while the US has risen substantially in the spam stakes, neighbouring Canada has continued to make good progress in eradicating the spam problem, further reducing its spam-relaying figure during Q3 to just 0.8 percent.
"The US needs to take note and learn from its northern neighbour, which is doing a sterling job of combating the spammers, thanks in no small part to the Government's Task Force on Spam," continued Theriault. "Canada got its act together early, publishing its 'Anti-Spam Action Plan' in 2004, and since then has made a sustained effort to engage ISPs, businesses and consumers, to really crack down on the problem. Canadian computer users have every right to be frustrated - even though they're hardly contributing to the spam problem, they're doubtless continuing to receive a wad of unsolicited email that's being relayed south of the border."
- 1. United States
- 2. South Korea
- 3. China (inc.Hong Kong)
- 4. Russia
- 5. Brazil
- 6. France
- 7. Germany
- 8. Turkey
- 9. Poland
- 10. United Kingdom
- 11. Romania
- 12. Mexico
"It seems as though a major American spammer is arrested every other week at the moment, but despite these high-profile lawbreakers being put away, the US continues to relay far more spam than any other nation on the planet," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos. "This level of activity can't be attributed solely to the slick operations of a few cash-hungry criminals. The problem is there are thousands of spammers using many thousands of compromised zombie computers in the US. The only way we're going to reduce the problem is if US authorities invest a lot more in educating computer users of the dangers, while ensuring ISPs step up their monitoring efforts to identify these compromised machines as early as possible."
According to Sophos, while the US has risen substantially in the spam stakes, neighbouring Canada has continued to make good progress in eradicating the spam problem, further reducing its spam-relaying figure during Q3 to just 0.8 percent.
"The US needs to take note and learn from its northern neighbour, which is doing a sterling job of combating the spammers, thanks in no small part to the Government's Task Force on Spam," continued Theriault. "Canada got its act together early, publishing its 'Anti-Spam Action Plan' in 2004, and since then has made a sustained effort to engage ISPs, businesses and consumers, to really crack down on the problem. Canadian computer users have every right to be frustrated - even though they're hardly contributing to the spam problem, they're doubtless continuing to receive a wad of unsolicited email that's being relayed south of the border."
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