Spammers Ramp up Software Sales; Yet Stock Tips Still Popular As Clearswift Publishes Its Latest Spam Index Findings
SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 2004--Offers of cheap software have reached their highest level ever as spammers seek to boost revenues by selling potentially pirated software at knock-down prices, according to Clearswift's latest Spam Index survey.
Last month the BSA, the anti-piracy alliance for the software industry, warned against buying from unknown Internet sources after seeing a growth in spam-related complaints. At such low prices it is extremely likely the products are counterfeit, leaving purchasers no comeback if the goods are faulty, if they indeed receive the software at all. Though this type of spam represents only 6.6% of all emails, it is double last month's level, and the highest recorded since the index began 11 months ago.
"Even though the software prices may look incredibly tempting, recipients are strongly advised not to click on links contained within any unsolicited emails," said Alyn Hockey, Clearswift's Director of Research. "While the software may be illegal, the links may also contain viruses and leave your PC and network wide open to unwanted intrusion."
Healthcare products continue to dominate our inboxes, comprising 54.4% of all spam emails. Yet spammers are still offering tips for penny share investments. First seen in March, these mails are becoming more sophisticated and now often include background on the market and examples of how previously advertised shares have shot up in values. One recent example even quotes a journalist from Fortune magazine! These emails make up a significant proportion of the financial spam, which in turn accounts for 24.6% of the total spam received
The figures, which were extracted from the millions of unsolicited emails received by Clearswift on a weekly basis, are made up of spam generated by seeding email accounts and spam submissions forwarded to Clearswift by its 20 million users.
Clearswift's MAILsweeper Business Suite combines comprehensive email content security, learning anti-spam software, and remote management functionality, which allows multiple email administrators to investigate quarantined emails remotely via a web-based interface. This solution enables organizations to protect themselves from fraudulent spam, as well as other email threats such viruses, spyware, pornography, lost productivity, damage to reputation, loss of confidential information and network congestion.
About Clearswift:
Clearswift is the world's leading provider of software for managing and securing electronic communications. Clearswift solutions ensure business compliance through safe messaging, secure boundaries and best practice in electronic communications. Clearswift delivers the capabilities for organizations to protect themselves against email and web-based threats, meet legal and regulatory requirements, implement productivity-saving policies and manage intellectual property passing through their network.
Clearswift's product portfolio includes MIMEsweeper(TM), the world's leading family of content security products for email and Web, as well as a range of highly specialized security solutions for Government and Defense organizations. More information about Clearswift, its products and services is available at www.clearswift.com.
Clearswift, MAILsweeper, MIMEsweeper, spamActive and ENTERPRISEsuite are trademarks or registered trademarks, in the United States, United Kingdom and certain other countries, of Clearswift Limited. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.
Contacts
The Intelec Group
Susan Majerus, 480/354-4334
susanm@intelecgroup.com
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