Spam Numbers Rise, Although Porn Is Down

A survey released on Friday shows that while emails pushing porn are down, overall spam emails—and phishing attempts—are growing significantly.

The survey was conducted by Ipswitch, a vendor of SMB security software. It found that 70 percent of all email received is spam, compared to 62 percent the previous quarter, and just 57 percent last Christmas. In spring 2005, however, the number of spam emails topped 80 percent, the company found.

The survey ranked the most prevalent forms of spam and found the most pertained to medication, at 36 percent. More significantly, financial/phishing spam entered the list at 19 percent of all emails received.

That, according to Ipswitch, was because filtering software and users have begun to recognize traditional spam, and have begun ignoring it. Phishing, on the other hand, uses social engineering techniques to mimic common and accepted web sites, luring unwary consumers to enter confidential information in an attempt to defraud them.

"Conventional spam, by which I mean non-phishing, is less effective than it used to be," said David Karp, director of product marketing for Ipswitch. "People are getting wise, and filters are getting better. And I think that is why phishing is on the rise, because a spammer can no longer sell fake watches or fake pornography."

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