11 February 2008
Russia emerges as spam superpower, as Asia and Europe overtake North America
Sophos details dirty dozen spam-relaying countries for Q4 2007
IT security and control firm Sophos has published its latest report on
the top twelve spam-relaying countries over the final quarter of 2007.
Experts at SophosLabs scanned all spam messages received in the
company's global network of spam traps, and have revealed a dramatic
rise in the proportion of the world's spam messages being sent from
compromised Russian computers. The country has stormed into second
place, accounting for 8.3% of the world's spam, or one in twelve junk
mails seen in inboxes. Russia's rise is echoed in Sophos's research
into which continents make the greatest contribution to the spam
problem - with Asia and Europe overtaking North America.
Between October-December 2007, the USA relayed far more spam than any
other country - testament to the sheer number of computers in the
country that have been taken over by remote hackers. Representing the
lion's share of total spam traffic, the United States' 21 percent
slice means that more than one in five of all the world's spam emails
was being sent through compromised American computers.
The top twelve spam-relaying countries are as follows:
| Position |
Country |
Percentage |
| 1 | United States |
|
| 2 | Russia |
|
| 3 | China (inc.Hong Kong) |
|
| 4 | Brazil |
|
| 5 | S Korea |
|
| 6 | Turkey |
|
| 7 | Italy |
|
| 8 | Poland |
|
| 9 | Germany |
|
| 10= | Spain |
|
| 10= | Mexico |
|
| 12 | United Kingdom |
|
| Others | 35.7% |
"Responsible for a third of all unwanted email, USA and Russia
can be viewed as the two dirty men of the spam generation, polluting
email traffic with unwanted and potentially malicious messages," said
Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos. "It's not
the case that a third of the world's spammers are based in those
countries, but that legions of computers are poorly defended,
allowing hackers to break in and turn them into botnets for
the spreading of spam and malware."
Spam by continent
Sophos's breakdown of spam relaying by continent is as follows:
| Position |
Continent |
Percentage |
| 1 | Asia |
|
| 2 | Europe |
|
| 3 | North America |
|
| 4 | South America |
|
| 5 | Africa |
|
| Others | 0.7% |
Falling from first to third place, North America has managed to reduce
the proportion of spam it is relaying from 32.3 percent to 26.5
percent, and has been overtaken by Asia at the top of the chart, and
Europe in second place.
"Financially-motivated criminals are controlling huge proportions
of compromised zombie machines to launch these spam
campaigns. This is big business for cybercriminals, so the
authorities have the daunting task of educating users about
the dangers of clicking on links or attachments in spam mails, while
also making sure that service providers help in identifying
compromised computers," continued Theriault. "This is a worldwide
issue, affecting everyone who owns a computer. Businesses and
computer users must take a more proactive approach to spam filtering
and IT security in order to avoid adding to the problem."
MP3 pump-and-dump spam
Using spam to artificially inflate the price of stock is an ongoing
spam trend, but October 2007 saw one of the bizarrest ever schemes,
when a pump-and-dump campaign used MP3 files in an attempt to
manipulate share prices. In an effort to bypass spam filters,
cybercriminals sent out their messages with supposed music files from
stars such as Elvis Presley, Fergie and Carrie Underwood, attached.
The files actually contained a monotone voice encouraging
people to buy shares in a little-known company.
"Some may have thought Elvis had returned from the grave when they
received these spam emails, but they were designed to trick armchair
investors into making unwise investments," explained Theriault.
"Spammers will go to extraordinary lengths to try and ensure that
their marketing messages reach their intended pool of victims."
Last month Sophos published its annual Security Threat Report, which discussed the ways in which financially-motivated cybercriminals use compromised computers to relay their spam messages around the world.
Sophos recommends that computer users ensure they keep their security software up-to-date, as well as using a properly configured firewall and installing the latest operating system security patches. Businesses must also look to implement a best practice policy regarding email account usage.
About Sophos
Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security
solutions and services. Recognized for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com
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