NetXactics, local distributor for Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against spam and viruses, has announced that Sophos has published a report into the countries from which spam messages originate.
Researchers scanned all spam messages received over two days last week and have revealed a `dirty dozen` of offending countries, with the US topping the chart.
The `dirty dozen` are as follows:
United States 56.74%
Canada 6.80%
China (and Hong Kong) 6.24%
South Korea 5.77%
Netherlands 2.13%
Brazil 2.00%
Germany 1.83%
France 1.50%
United Kingdom 1.31%
Australia 1.21%
Mexico 1.19%
Spain 1.05%
Others 12.23%
Sophos`s findings are based upon an analysis of hundreds of thousands of e-mails examined by Sophos spam researchers using honeypots and other measuring systems around the world.
"The US is far and away the worst offender, accounting for nearly 60% of the world`s spam. Even though European countries are responsible for less spam, they are still generating millions of junk e-mails a day," said Brett Myroff, CEO of NetXactics. "Spam is a global problem, and countries worldwide are starting to take the issue more seriously. However, legislation in the UK won`t protect users from spam coming from North America or China."
Sophos research has revealed that although a large amount of spam is being sent from US computers, much is being sent without the computer owner`s knowledge.
"Our intelligence suggests that a large amount of spam originates in Russia, even though it appears at only number 28 in the chart. Hackers appear to be breaking into computers in other countries and sending out spam via `infected` PCs," continued Myroff. "Some Trojan horses and worms allow spammers to take over third-party computers belonging to innocent parties, and use them for sending spam. More than 30% of the world`s spam is sent from these compromised computers, underlining the need for a co-ordinated approach to spam and viruses."
Sophos advises home users, particularly those with broadband connections to the Internet, to ensure their computers are not unwittingly being used by spammers.
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NetXactics is a South African-based company, focused on the provision of security solutions. It is the sole distributor in Sub-Saharan Africa for UK-based Sophos Plc, one of the leaders in the provision of anti-virus and anti-spam software for the corporate environment. For more information, visit NetXactics at www.netxactics.co.za.
Sophos
Sophos is one of the world`s largest specialist developers of anti-virus and anti-spam software. Headquartered in the UK, the company designs solutions specifically to protect businesses and organisations, including large corporations, banks and governments, from viruses and spam.
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