Spam levels drop - for now

Security experts have warned that a temporary lull in the amount of spam email in circulation could very well be a false dawn.

Figures from security firm SoftScan indicate that there was less spam sent last month than there was in December 2007. However, the decrease was very small.

"There is nothing to indicate that this reduction in spamming activity is long term," warned Diego d’Ambra of SoftScan.

One of the reasons that spam decreased, according to d'Ambra, was that many people would have got new PCs for Christmas. This means that older PCs, that had become 'bots' without the owner's knowledge, were now offline.

There were also other reasons for the decline, he said.

"Either the spammers are content with the data they have collected so far and don’t see the need for sending large waves of spam or they are busy working on new tactics. Although we don’t expect to see a return to December’s levels just yet, I’m sure it will only be a matter of months," d'Ambra continued.

www.softscan.com