Hurricane Season Possible Cause Of Reduction In September Spam Output Says Email Systems
The amount of Spam bombarding UK inboxes took a noticeable downshift during September, arguably as a result of the extreme weather conditions directly impacting areas such as the Eastern seaboard of the US through which a great deal of spam is usually routed, according to email management specialist Email Systems.
Although unsolicited Spam email still comprised an average of 75.53% of all email traffic during September, this represents a significant drop from August, when the lowest level of spam at any point was 79.56% and the average more than 85%.
Most noticeably, the route by which a significant proportion of Spam reaches the UK seems to have been directly affected by some external phenomena – most likely the extremely damaging hurricanes that have recently blighted the US and surrounding region. In September, Spam mainly originated from seven countries – including Korea, France, Canada, Spain, Japan and the US. The United Kingdom was the worst culprit of Spam distribution in September, comprising almost 45% of all unsolicited emails of known origin for the month.
However, although a significant and noticeable decrease from recent months, many spammers still managed to distribute their illegal emails – with spam reaching its September peak on Saturday 25th at 93.73% of all email traffic.
Said Neil Hammerton, Managing Director of Email Systems:
“The fact that the geographical region which has been devastated by hurricane after hurricane in September coincides with this drop in Spam output highlights the fact that a huge proportion of Spam email is routed via the US, even though in many cases the email originates from an entirely different part of the world. Unfortunately the catastrophe that has struck the region seems not to have deterred spammers too greatly as the last ten days of September saw another significant upturn in the proportion of spam in email, jumping from daily averages of 50 or 60 percent to averages of 80 or 90 percent.”
The lowest level of spam on any day during September occurred on Friday 17th September with spam comprising just 54.49% of email. Legitimate mail peaked at 43.03% on the same day, more than double the peak of legitimate mail for the previous month (18.34%). The average daily quantity of legitimate mail was 21.63%, almost double that of August (12.45%).
Sunday 12th September saw the peak of Virus traffic at 5.09% – the lowest point of the month came on Sunday 26th September when virus traffic comprised 1.33% of email. The average amount of virus traffic per day was 2.83%, a rise of more than 30% from the August average of 2.16%.
Email Systems monitors the flow of spam and virus infected email messages on behalf of millions of corporate, public sector and domestic users across the UK. For more information, visit www.EmailSystems.com or call 0870 141 7070.
About Email Systems:
With the ever-increasing threat of email borne attacks, the issue of managing the flow of electronic information, ensuring protection with as little hands-on administration as possible, is more vital to business effectiveness than ever before.
Email Systems offers a comprehensive range of email management and protection services, available either individually or as a modular package for Enterprise, Home and ISP customers. Email Systems’ solutions is entirely web-based, ensuring that clients do not need to download or manage software on their PC or server, offering complete peace of mind with no effort required. With best-of-breed anti-Spam solutions capturing more than 98% of Spam to customers’ inboxes and anti-Virus engines that detect and quarantine 100% of known viruses, Email Systems offers customers flexibility to manage the flow of incoming and outgoing email from a simple web based interface, also setting up rules as required. Email Systems is proud to enjoy a 100% client retention record in its three years of business. For more information, contact www.EmailSystems.com or call 0870 141 7070.