Sophos: U.S. Still Generates the Most Spam

Though the United States is making progress in the war on unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam, it still generates more than any other nation in the world, according to recent statistics from Sophos, a provider of anti-malware solutions.

Sophos ranked spam outputs of the top 12 countries and top six continents based on messages it received in its “global network of spam traps” between January and March, according to the group’s release.

On the continent level, Asia leads the pack, with 42.8 percent of worldwide spam coming from its computers. North America was ranked second, generating 25.6 percent of the world’s spam, closely followed by Europe, which generated 25 percent.

“Two years ago, the U.S. accounted for over half of all spam sent to the world—now it is less than a quarter, evidence which confirms that more Americans are waking up to the need to protect their home computers from malicious hackers,” said Sophos’ senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley, in the release. “More and more viruses, worms and Trojan horses are being designed to take over innocent users’ computers with the intention of stealing information and sending out junk e-mail campaigns.”

To help battle spam and related viruses or other malware, Sophos suggests that computer users make sure their antivirus software is constantly kept up to date, employ a properly configured firewall and install the appropriate patches for their operating systems.

The top 12 spam-generating countries, according to Sophos, are as follows:

1) The United States—23.1%

2) China (including Hong Kong)—21.9%

3) South Korea—9.8%

4) France—4.3%

5) Poland—3.8%

6) Spain—3.3%

7) Germany—3%

8) Brazil—2.9%

9) Japan—2%

10) The United Kingdom—1.9%

11) The Netherlands—1.8%

12) Taiwan—1.6%

The top six spam-generating continents, according to Sophos, are as follows:

1) Asia—42.8%

2) North America—25.6%

3) Europe—25%

4) South America—5.1%

5) Australia—0.8%

6) Africa—0.6%

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