As for countries, the United States remains on top, sending almost a quarter of the world's spam.

Web security company Sophos scanned all spam messages received in the company's global network of spam traps, and said while the United States has continued to make good progress in its efforts to reduce spam-relaying statistics, there is still more spam 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 spam relayed.

The top twelve spam relaying countries in January to March 2006 are as follows:

1. United States 23.1 per cent
2. China (inc. Hong Kong) 21.9 per cent
3. S Korea 9.8 per cent
4. France 4.3 per cent
5. Poland 3.8 per cent
6. Spain 3.3 per cent
7. Germany 3.0 per cent
8. Brazil 2.9 per cent
9. Japan 2.0 per cent
10. United Kingdom 1.9 per cent
11. Netherlands 1.8 per cent
12. Taiwan 1.6 per cent

Others 20.6 per cent

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, said: "Two years ago, the US accounted for over half of all spam sent to the world - now it is less than a quarter, evidence which confirms that more Americans are waking up to the need to protect their home computers from malicious hackers.

"We're seeing spammers being successfully brought to justice in the US, but it's important to remember that they can be based anywhere in the world. In fact, the vast majority of spam is generated from zombie computers - hijacked PCs infected by malware," Cluley said.

"A combination of technology, legal action, user education and international co-operation is needed to truly make spam a thing of the past."

The reduction in US-relayed spam has had a significant impact on the rest of the chart, with China now closer than ever to the top. Poland, Spain and Germany all saw their spam-relaying percentages rise between Q4 2005, and Q1 2006, while the UK, which was absent altogether from the Q4 2005 dirty dozen, has now re-entered the table in tenth position. These changes have helped Europe challenge North America for second position in the top spam-relaying continents.

The breakdown of spam relaying by continent in January to March 2006 is as follows:

1. Asia 42.8 per cent
2. North America 25.6 per cent
3. Europe 25.0 per cent
4. South America 5.1 per cent
5. Australasia 0.8 per cent
6. Africa 0.6 per cent

Other 0.1 per cent

"Europe is in danger of overtaking North America as the second worst spam-relaying part of the world. This continental shift is inevitable because as North America's percentage continues to fall, the rest of the world is witnessing a rise," Cluley said. "It's imperative that computer users worldwide put better defences in place to prevent their computers from being converted into spam-spewing zombies."

http://www.sophos.com/spaminfo/bestpractice/spam.html

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