Ipswitch, Inc., Warns that Spam Continues to Rise
Messaging Expert Warns That Over Two Thirds of Email Is Now Unsolicited Spam
Lexington, Massachusetts - August 31, 2006 - Ipswitch, Inc., a leading developer of network management, messaging and file transfer solutions, today announced the result of its fifth Spamometer survey, revealing that 70% of all email received is spam. This compares with 62% the previous quarter and only 57% over the Christmas period. The increase is shown to be down to a massive rise in phishing emails, the inherently dangerous spam messages asking the recipient to supply personal information that can lead to identity theft.
Despite the huge rise in phishing emails (a new entry at number 2), the most spam messages tracked by Ipswitch were those offering medication of various forms (36.6%). Last quarter's leader, pornographic messages, was down to number 3 (down from 24%). Mortgage and loan offers were also down by half (from 18% the previous quarter) at number five, with electronics and software offers sandwiched in between with 10%.
- Medication - 36% - (up from 3)
- Finance/Phishing - 19% - (new entry)
- Pornographic - 14% - (down from 1)
- Electronics/Pirated Software - 10% - (non-mover)
- Mortgages offers - 9% - (down from 2)
"While it is disappointing to see the percentage of emails that are spam continually on the rise, it is the recent epidemic of phishing emails that are of most concern," comments Ipswitch sales director for Northern Europe, Chris Greaves. "Phishing is a special kind of spam designed to steal personal or corporate information. While regular spam irritates, phishing is dangerous."
"It is sad to see that even with the tools that are available to stop Spam; we are seeing a high growth in Spam volumes. Even though some of this growth may well be created to try and maximize responses from a shrinking audience, the fact that such a basic Spam as medication sites is number one is quite frightening. That phishing is number 2 is less surprising - this kind of Spam plays to a person's trust, and is harder for the person to understand - and can reap higher benefits. For this reason, the use of anti-Spam filters is becoming even more important," says Clive Longbottom, head of research for industry analyst firm Quocirca.
Ipswitch’s leading messaging solutions, IMail Secure and Ipswitch Collaboration Suite (ICS), provide solid, scalable, standards-based messaging and group collaboration with anywhere access to email and administration via any Web browser, plus secure instant messaging, group calendaring and scheduling as well as access to shared Outlook folders. With IMail Secure and ICS 2006 Premium Edition, Ipswitch continues to offer integrated industry-leading protection against spam, phishing attacks and viruses using Symantec Scan Engine carrier-grade anti-virus technology and Mail-Filter’s language-aware, automatically updated anti-spam technology.
“Until spamming becomes uneconomical, spammers will continue to use time and ingenuity to trick filters into letting their messages through, knowing someone will fall for their sales pitch,” warns Greaves. “Human analysis is vital to accurately identifying spam and that intervention should be built into the filter; it should not occur after the filtering is done.”
For a full breakdown of results please contact the Davies Murphy Group (ipswitch@daviesmurphy.com)
About Ipswitch
Ipswitch develops and markets software that works for small and mid-sized businesses worldwide. More than 100 million people use Ipswitch software every day to collaborate via Ipswitch Collaboration Suite, monitor their networks with Ipswitch WhatsUp®, and transfer files over the Internet using the market leading Ipswitch WS_FTP® Professional client and Ipswitch WS_FTP Server. To view the Ipswitch blog visit http://blogs.ipswitch.com. Ipswitch values community involvement; visit http://icare.ipswitch.com to find out how to become involved. For product and sales information, visit http://www.ipswitch.com.