Email spam up 11% since January

The amount of spam sent to Irish email users has increased by more than 10% since the start of the year according to the latest figures from email hosting company IE Internet.

The spam rate increased from 53% in January 2007 to 64% last month.

The US and France were the top sources of May's spam. However, according to Ken O'Driscoll, chief technology officer at IE Internet, it is unlikely that the spammers were actually located in France.

However, the spammers used virus-infected French computers, or what is known as “zombie armies”, to send their spam. As zombie armies conceal the real identity and location of the spammer, they are less risky than other methods.

“Zombie armies are proving lucrative for spammers,” said O'Driscoll.

The rate of viruses for May has dropped slightly since last month to around 5%.

“While the rate of email viruses has been dropping consistently, new viruses are still being written,” said O'Driscoll.

Statistics compiled by Irish email hosting company IE Internet.com Ltd, based on managing more than 35,000 business email users.