Spam at lowest point since 2008

[Bearcat]

Global spam levels have dropped to their lowest point in three years, and now make up just 70.5 percent of all emails, according to Symantec's new Intelligence Report.

This is a significant decline from July 2010, when Symantec detected 230 billion spam messages in daily circulation, a number that accounted for 90 percent of all global email. It is the lowest recorded spam level since November 2008, when spam made up 68 percent of all emails, Symantec said in its report.

Pharmaceutical spam, a mainstay of spammers' arsenals, has also fallen off; although it is still the most common category, it accounts now for 35.5 percent of spam compared with the end of last year, when it made up 64.2 percent of spam emails. Other top spam categories include watches and jewelry, adult/sex/dating, weight loss and casino/gambling.

Symantec's report suggested that the decrease in spam volume may be a result of the recent takedowns of the Rustock and Coreflood botnets, massive international networks of spam-spewing computers that the FBI disarmed earlier this year.

While it's refreshing to receive fewer spam messages, targeted malware attacks and advanced persistent threats (APT) are both on the rise. This could speak to a dangerous trend of cybercriminals targeting specific companies' intellectual property rather than blanketing the Web with spam.

"Targeted malware in general has grown in volume and complexity in recent years, but as it is designed to steal company secrets, it can be very difficult for recipients to recognize," the report explained.

Targeted attacks are still rare — one in 255 emails contained malware, but only one in 8,300 were "actual highly targeted attacks that could lead to an ATP," Symantec said. Even so, the statistics show that these types of cyberattacks have jumped fourfold since January.

To protect your personal information from identity thieves and spammers, make sure you run anti-virus software on your computer, encrypt your sensitive data, especially on removable USB drives, and use a strong password as your first line of defense.

Source

I sincerely hope Spam will go away all together someday! I know, I know, i'm just dreaming.

[BigGuy]

Thanks for the interesting news Uncle Bear. I really hate spam to and would like it to go away!

[Bearcat]

Thanks for the interesting news Uncle Bear. I really hate spam to and would like it to go away!

Well, if the statistics are correct, then at least things are going in the right direction.

[ted]

I have a strong password, my password is 123456 no one will ever guess that

[Bearcat]

I have a strong password, my password is 123456 no one will ever guess that

Might I make a suggestion Ted? I think you should change it to 654321. That is way more secure!

[safeguy]

I have a strong password, my password is 123456 no one will ever guess that

Although that seems like a weak password...it might just work against those who are used to the idea/concept of conventional password security...sort of reverse psychology.

[BigGuy]

I use 10 20 30 40 50 60 myself.

[Bearcat]

I use 10 20 30 40 50 60 myself.

Very good Buddy! Now why didn't I think of that myself?

[leofelix]

ehr
Spam at lowest point since 2008?:-)
I received 70 spammy e-mails yesterday.
Never happened before such a mail-bombing, I have to tell Symantec to update their report

[BigGuy]

ehr
Spam at lowest point since 2008?:-)
I received 70 spammy e-mails yesterday.
Never happened before such a mail-bombing, I have to tell Symantec to update their report

I am happy to hear that I am not the only one who still gets lots of spam e-mail.