Spam Mail Figures, Market Trends in Sept. 2009
Find Out the Latest on Junk Mail, Viruses, Phishing and Trends
© Yahan Wu
Oct 2, 2009
In September 2001, the global ratio of spam in email traffic from new and previously unknown bad sources was 86.4 percent (1 in 2 emails), showing a 2.1 percent decrease since August. Spam levels for Q3 2009 averaged 88.1 percent, compared with 81.0 percent for Q3 2008.
Decrease Seen in Global Viruses
The global ratio of email-borne viruses in email traffic from new and previously unknown bad sources was one in 399.2 emails (0.25 percent) in September, a decrease of 0.09 percent since August. In September, 39.8 percent of email-borne malware, short for malicious software, contained links to malicious websites, an increase of 22 percent since August. In Q3 2009, email-borne malware activity averaged 1 in 330.3 emails compared with 1 in 122.5 for Q3 2008.
Phising Short Increase
In September, phishing activity was 1 in 437.1 emails (0.23 percent) an increase of 0.06 percent since August. When judged as a proportion of all email-borne threats such as viruses and Trojans, the number of phishing emails had decreased by 11.1 percent to 75.8 percent of all email-borne malware threats intercepted in September. Phishing activity in Q3 2009 reached 1 in 368.6 compared with 1 in 330.5 for the same period in 2008.
Analysis of web security activity shows that 12.3 percent of all web-based malware intercepted was new in September, an increase of 0.4 percent since August. MessageLabs Intelligence also identified an average of 2,337 new websites per day harboring malware and other potentially unwanted programs such as spyware and adware, a decrease of 33.4 percent since August.
Geographical Trends
- Denmark was the most spammed country in September with spam levels at 95.6 percent of all email.
- In the US, spam increased to 91.8 percent and 91.2 percent in Canada. Spam levels rose to 91.7 percent in the UK.
- The largest increase in spam was for Sweden where spam levels rose by 7.2 percent to 89.6 percent. In the Netherlands, spam levels reached 91.9 percent, Austria remained unchanged at
- Virus activity in Switzerland rose by 0.08 percent, the largest increase for all countries, placing Switzerland at the top of the virus table for September.
- Virus levels for the US were 1 in 552.5 and 1 in 393.8 for Canada. In Germany, virus levels were 1 in 358.5, 1 in 666.2 for the Netherlands, 1 in 626.5 for Australia, 1 in 328.7 for Hong Kong and 1 in 552.0 for Japan.
- Switzerland was the most active country for phishing attacks with 1 in 246.4 emails, followed by the UK with 1 in 252.3.
Vertical Trends
- In September, the most spammed industry sector with a spam rate of 94.7 percent was the Engineering sector.
- Spam levels for the Education sector were 93.8 percent, 92 percent for the Chemical & Pharmaceutical sector, 92.2 percent for Retail, 90.6 percent for Public Sector and 90.6 percent for Finance.
- Virus activity in the Education sector fell by 0.36 percent but remained at the top of the table with 1 in 209.7 emails being infected in September.
- Virus levels for the Chemical & Pharmaceutical sector were 1 in 288.2, 1 in 346.4 for the IT Services sector, 1 in 682.0 for Retail, 1 in 262.2 for Public Sector and 1 in 579.2 for Finance.
Source: Symantec Announces September and Q3 2009 MessageLabs Intelligence Report: Latest Investigation of Spam from Botnets Reveals Rapid Growth and New Players, September 29, 2009
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