Spam on the rise, soon to fall?
Anyone with one email address is subject to an almost unbearable amount of Viagra, OEM software, and investment opportunity spam. Adding an extra email address to the mailbox or, if you’re really lucky, the task of dealing with generic email addresses like “info” or “sales” will only compound the problem, especially when these are often posted online. As an individual with more email addresses than can be counted on one hand, one of which is posted online and has virtually no spam filtering, I have quickly become the best source for every kind of product known to man - and probably a few unknown ones, too!
Back in October, there was a significant increase in the amount of spam that was being sent throughout the Internet. Increases were suggested to be anywhere from 60%, a somewhat conservative estimate, to 100%, doubling the amount of spam that individuals were receiving. At the time, it was a new kind of spam, image spam, that was causing all the problems. With spam accounting for approximately 80% of all emails sent, it is definitely an epidemic, however, according to a recent article in IT Business, image spam may soon be eliminated from the equation.
Unfortunately, spam is a big business, and I don’t see the problem being fully resolved soon, if ever. I do appreciate the efforts of security companies, and comparing my filtered work email with my unfiltered blog email, I see how useful anti-spam products can be. It just seems like everything is slow and reactive while the spammers are innovative and clever, and driven by dollar signs.