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Half Of Email Users Have Opened Spam
Mike Sachoff
Staff Writer
2010-03-25
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A significant percentage of consumers continue to interact with spam despite their awareness of how bots and viruses spread through risky email behavior, according to a new survey by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group.
 | | Half Of Email Users Have Opened Spam |  |
Even though over eighty percent of email users are aware of bots, tens of millions respond to spam in ways that could leave them open to a malware infection.
The survey found half of users have opened spam, clicked on a link in spam, opened a spam attachment, replied or forwarded it, actions that leave users susceptible to fraud, phishing, identity theft and infection. While most consumers said they are aware of bots, only one-third believed they were vulnerable to infection.
"Consumers need to understand they are not powerless bystanders. They can play a key role in standing up to spammers by not engaging and just marking their emails as junk," said Michael O'Reirdan, MAAWG chairman.
"When consumers respond to spam or click on links in junk mail, they often set themselves up for fraud or to have their computers compromised by criminals who use them to deliver more spam, spread viruses and launch cyber attacks," O'Reirdan said.
Less than half of the consumers surveyed saw themselves as the individual who should be most responsible for stopping the spread of viruses. Yet, only 36 percent of consumers believe they might get a virus and 46 percent of those who opened spam intentionally.
Younger consumers tend to consider themselves more security savvy, possibly from having grown up with the Internet, yet they also take more risks. Among the survey's key findings:
*Almost half of those who opened spam did so intentionally. Many wanted to unsubscribe or complain to the sender (25%), to see what would happen (18%) or were interested in the product (15%).
*Men and email users under 35 are most likely to open or click on links or forward spam. Among email users under 35 years, 50 percent report having opened spam compared to 38 percent of those over 35. Younger users were also more likely to have clicked on a link in spam (13%) compared to less than 10 percent of older consumers.
About the Author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.
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