On some days last month levels rose as high as 96.55 per cent - beating the previous high of 96.22 per cent, set back in February.

Security firm SoftScan said that the average level of spam in June was 90.06 per cent of all email, though at some points it dropped down to the 86 per cent mark.

"Changes in spam levels normally signal one of two things, either a change in tactics or more likely in this case, a drop in customers buying spam lists," said Diego d'Ambra, chief technical officer of SoftScan.

Lists of active email addresses are compiled by cybercriminals who then sell them on to companies touting their wares. But one or two days when spam levels drop is no reason to celebrate, according to d'Ambra.

"Unfortunately, I don't believe that this signifies a change for the better since the overall trend is so high. Like any other business, apparently spam shops also suffer poor trading days," he said.

SoftScan also reported a slight drop in phishing activity in June.

Read Web User's analysis of the state of play in the spam market here.

www.softscan.co.uk

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