Malware could be replacing spam

Posted by Jessie Richards

Malware and related web attacks could be replacing spam emails as the new online threat, it has been discovered.

According to a survey conducted by Barracuda Networks, spam levels fell by 50 per cent to 26 billion messages per month in the second half of 2010, after hitting a peak of 52 billion in July.

This correlated with a 55 per cent increase in the daily proliferation of malicious software, the company noted.

Barracuda Networks chief research officer Dr Paul Judge said that the shift towards search engines and social networking sites means fraudsters are now focusing on those areas of the internet.

"The research community must continue to build innovative defences and the industry must make efforts to increase the deployment rates of those defences," Dr Judge added.

A separate study carried out Symantec recently found that spam is still prevalent, particularly in South Africa and Australia.

Companies relying on IT systems could consider outsourcing in order to improve security and day-to-day efficiency.