China is closing in on the USA at the top of a league of spam relaying countries. According to statistics from security firm Sophos, compiled in the first three months of 2006, China (including Hong Kong) originated 21.9 per cent of the junk mail messages captured in its spam traps compared to 23.1 per cent for the US.
Two years ago, the US accounted for half of all spam sent in the world, a figure that has now dropped to less than a quarter, thanks to crackdowns against spammers and better information sharing among ISPs. But despite progress from the United States in reducing its spam-relaying quotient, there"s still more junk mail sent from US computers than any other nation. However as a continent, North America is now close to being overtaken by Europe, with both lying behind Asia in terms of volume of spam each is responsible for.