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Spam Volume Predicted To Rise In 2009
Mike Sachoff
Staff Writer
2008-12-16
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It has been five years since the CAN-SPAM act was signed into law, but spam volumes are predicted to rise slightly higher than 95 percent in 2009 as the growing use of botnets continues to spread, according to a report from Web security firm Barracuda Networks.
 | | Spam Volume Predicted To Rise In 2009 |  |
"As the end of the year quickly approaches, many are asking if spam levels can get any worse in the new year," said Stephen Pao, vice president of product management for Barracuda Networks.
"There are a couple factors that we predict may cause spam to increase slightly in 2009, however, it is equally important to note that the level of legitimate email is also increasing each year."
On factor that may lead to increased spam levels in the months to come is the emergence of spam coming from countries that had not previously been know for sending spam. For example Barracuda's top 10 spam countries list ranks Brazil and Turkey in the second and fifth spots.
"What is interesting is where both of these countries rank on the list relative to the 'usual suspects' of China and Russia in terms of spam originating countries," said Pao.
"We believe that this is due in part to both residential broadband penetration and proliferation of data centers in various countries around the world. As broadband availability increases, the reach and control of botnet activity also grows. Unsecured data centers are ripe for hacking and hosting of malicious content."
Barracuda found that identity obfuscation techniques were widespread in a vast majority of spam campaigns sent in 2008. Hacked Web sites, the use of free hosting providers, and the rotation of new Web domains within the same campaign were all tactics that played major roles in hiding the identities of spammers in 2008.
"We believe that the combination of social engineering and sender identity obfuscation techniques will continue to merge, making it even more essential that customers use caution when accessing applications or providing personal information via URLs provided in emails," added Pao.
About the Author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.
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