Sophos: Latest 'Dirty Dozen' Spam Relaying Countries

BOSTON -- Sophos, a world leader in IT security and control, has published its latest report on the top 12 spam-relaying countries during the second quarter of 2007.

Experts at SophosLabs scanned all spam messages received in the company's global network of spam traps and have revealed that the U.S. continues to relay more spam than any other nation, accounting for 19.6 percent - a decrease of just 0.2 percent from the previous quarter. However, Europe now has six entries in the dirty dozen, which when combined, account for even more spam-relaying than the U.S.

Sophos notes that the number of compromised PCs continues to increase steadily in Europe. An image showing the continent's zombie computers that relayed spam during a 30-minute period is available at: http://www.sophos.com/news/2007/07/dirtydozjul07.html

The overall global volume of spam rose by around nine percent during Q2 2007, when compared to the same period in 2006.

The top 12 spam-relaying countries are:

April to June 2007

“While the amount of spam relayed in the U.S. remains high, we’re seeing a proportionate rise in other countries,” said Ron O’Brien, senior security analyst at Boston-based Sophos. “Consumer awareness plays an important role in combating these attacks, as does business sensibilities. It’s only through a concerted effort between internet service providers and computer users worldwide that we’ll actually be able to positively reduce the amount of spam in cyberspace.”

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