Security specialist Symantec have conducted an extensive research programme into the amount of spam plaguing email inboxes. The results are fascinating and thorough scans reported less than 50% of received emails were junk, the lowest amount in the last 12 years. In June, 49.7% of emails contained spam content and continued the steady decline over the past few years. This trend accelerated in mid-July which recorded a figure of 46.4%.
The statistics can be a little deceiving as cyber criminals employ newer, more effective scams to access sensitive data. Malware abuse has risen exponentially at an alarming rate. For example, in June, approximately 57.6 million pieces of malware were discovered which is double the recorded amount in May. As a result, it appears malware is becoming a complete nuisance and the primary target method of attacks in 2015. Ransomware also managed to reach 500,000 entries which aggressively scaremongers users into thinking their PC is inoperable unless a financial payment is made. Unfortunately, those who aren’t technically minded find it difficult to distinguish between unscrupulous emails and the genuine article.
A spokesperson from Symantec said,
“This increase in activity lends more evidence to the idea that, with the continued drops in email-based malicious activity, attackers are simply moving to other areas of the threat landscape,”
Thank you BBC for providing us with this information.
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