Spam has now, according to reports, become an epidemic with the number of unwanted mails up significantly from this time last year. Companies such as McAfee are now working on solutions as the spammers slouch even lower in the standards of entertainment contained in the sites advertised and material sent in emails.
An expert in internet security has claimed that people are becoming bombarded with spam and says that "As a result, they are now spending two or three more times hitting the delete key than they did a year ago". McAfee have bought the SpamKiller application which attempts to examine emails for any unwanted content, much like other new applications of this type. This goes beyond older methods which have usually involved keyword detection, and works much better.
The content of spam is now a major issue. Porn is upsetting many while credit and ID card fraud now involves half a million cards a year. The product line manager from McAfee has told Reuters that "Prior to the spam epidemic, people would have to rummage through your garbage to get this information ... Now they are simply sending out 30 million emails in an attempt to defraud".
News source: Reuters
