Spam "Deadline" Passes [2/7/2006]

As you have probably noticed, spam is still being delivered to in your e-mail inbox.

As you have probably noticed, spam is still being delivered to in your e-mail inbox.

On January 28, 2004, Bill Gates predicted that spam would be a "thing of the past" within two years. His deadline has come and gone and spam is still with us. Although, some authorities say it is declining, a little.

As the "Security Threat Management Report," from Sophos puts it, "The [spam] threat remains alive and kicking despite the increased action against spammers and constantly improving anti-spam software."

Internationally, the US remains the worst spammer, but relays less of the world's spam than it did in 2004. Vigorous prosecution, high fines and jail sentences for spammers, and better legislation and system security have contributed to the decline.



However, country of origin is becoming a less relevant measure. Sophos says that over 60% of all spam is now generated from zombie computers — hijacked PCs infected by malware — which means that spammers do not have to be in the same country as the innocent computers they are using to send their spam.

Nevertheless, a number of reports show spam rates falling over the past year.

Symantec found that the decline in spam was in full effect from the beginning of 2005 through June.



Ipswitch found that while almost three-quarters of all e-mail sent around August 2005 was spam, that percentage had dropped to 57% by the most recent holiday season.

.

Now a report from JupiterResearch, predicts that the volume of spam messages per consumer will steadily decrease by 13% a year from 2005 to 2010. In fact, the researcher says the average active e-mail consumer will see a drop from 3,253 pieces of spam in 2005 to 1,640 pieces of spam in 2010.



While it is not the eradication of spam that Mr. Gates promised, at least, as far as e-mail users and marketers are concerned, the trend seems to finally going in the right direction.

Back to Article Listing  |  Email to a Friend