Sophos Reveals Latest ‘Dirty Dozen’ Spam Relaying Countries

Sophos Reveals Latest ‘Dirty Dozen’ Spam Relaying Countries

LYNNFIELD, Mass., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ — Sophos, a world leader in integrated threat management solutions, has published its latest report on the top twelve spam relaying countries for the last quarter of 2005.

Experts at SophosLabs(TM) scanned all spam messages received in its global network of spam traps, and have revealed that although the United States still tops the chart, it has made significant reductions, and for the first time accounts for less than one quarter of all spam relayed.

However, on the eve of when Bill Gates predicted spam would be eradicated*, Sophos finds that the level of non-English language spam continues to increase. In addition, the vast majority of spam is now being relayed by ‘zombie’ computers hijacked by Trojan horses, worms and viruses under the control of hackers. Sizeable increases are also happening in “pump- and-dump” stock spam, designed to artificially inflate stock prices before spammers sell shares at a considerable profit.

The top twelve spam relaying countries are as follows:

October to December, 2005

   1. United States                             24.5 %
   2. China (inc Hong Kong)                     22.3 %
   3. South Korea                                9.7 %
   4. France                                     5.0 %
   5. Canada                                     3.0 %
   6. Brazil                                     2.6 %
   7. Spain                                      2.5 %
   8. Austria                                    2.4 %
   9. Taiwan                                     2.1 %
  10. Poland                                     2.0 %
  10. Japan                                      2.0 %
  12. Germany                                    1.8 %

      Others                                    20.3 %

Helped by legislation such as the CAN-SPAM Act and greater information sharing by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the United States has led the way in imposing severe penalties and fines for those found guilty of spamming. Recently, an Iowa-based ISP was awarded $11.2 billion in a judgment against Florida-based spammer James McCalla, while another culprit, Daniel Lin of Detroit, faces a sentence of at least two years imprisonment for his actions.

“Officials in the United States have cracked down considerably on spammers by giving out harsh sentences to those convicted — that’s good news for organizations and consumers,” said Ron O’Brien, senior security analyst at Lynnfield, MA -based Sophos. “Unfortunately, email users around the world are still being bombarded by unsolicited messages.”

Elsewhere in the chart, the amount of spam relayed by South Korean computers has fallen substantially to 9.7%, meaning that it has been overtaken by China, which moves into second place behind the United States. The United Kingdom, responsible for relaying 1.6% of spam, has managed to slip off the dirty dozen altogether, and is currently in 14th position.

The fact that the dirty dozen is comprised of nations from four different continents gives an indication as to the nature of the spam problem. Zombie computers — responsible for relaying more than 60% of the world’s spam — can allow spammers to escape country-specific legislation, as they no longer have to be located in the same country as the spamming machines they operate.

Sophos recommends that computer users ensure they keep their anti-virus software up-to-date, as well as using a properly configured firewall and installing the latest operating system security patches to reduce the risk of their PCs becoming part of a zombie network. Businesses must also look to implement a best practice policy regarding email account usage.

For more information on “Best practice advice for minimizing exposure to spam,” please visit: http://www.sophos.com/spaminfo/bestpractice/spam.html

* On January 24 2004, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Bill Gates predicted that spam would be a “thing of the past” within two years.

About Sophos

Sophos is a world leader in integrated threat management solutions, developing protection against viruses, spyware, spam and policy abuse for business, education and government. Sophos’s reliably engineered, easy-to- operate products protect more than 35 million users in more than 150 countries. Through 20 years’ experience and a global network of threat analysis centers, the company responds rapidly to emerging threats — no matter how complex — and achieves the highest levels of customer satisfaction in the industry. On the web at: http://www.sophos.com/.

   Jennifer Torode                    Mike Spinney
   Sophos                             Horn Group
   781-973-1101                       781-356-7164
   jennifer.torode {at} sophos(.)com         sophosteam {at} horngroup(.)com