Spam Rates Hit Four Month High In November With Just One In Twenty Emails Legitimate
Spam peaked at a massive 94.97% of email traffic during November, the highest recorded figure since at least the beginning of August 2004, when Email Systems began monitoring traffic across its network on a regular basis for detailed monthly statistics.
Although the monthly average of 83.21% remained at a similar level to October, when 82.03% of email was spam mail, the weekend of Saturday November 6th (94.94%) and Sunday November 7th (94.97%) was the worst in recent months, almost breaking the 95% threshold for the first time. The weekend of Saturday 13th November (94.49%) and Sunday 14th November (94.25%) was also notably higher than average.
Previous highs have inched ever higher in recent months. On Sunday 22nd August spam comprised 92.59% of email, Saturday 25th September it hit 93.73% and Saturday October 16th spam reached 94.38% of email traffic.
Virus traffic, which averaged just 1.9% of email traffic in October jumped back up to an average of 4.37% for November, with the numerous variants of the Bagle virus one of the principal reasons for this sharp rise. Virus traffic peaked on Thursday 25th November at just under ten percent of all email (9.56%) again, considerably higher than recent peaks of 3.4% (August), 5.51% (September) and 2.44% (October).
Neil Hammerton, Managing Director of Email Systems said:
“There is no doubt that the Spam epidemic is becoming ever more serious with the monthly peaks creeping ever higher and this month almost hitting an unbelievable 95% and viruses numbering almost one in ten emails at the worst point. The weekends are of course artificially extreme cases given that there is markedly less work related email traffic but even the monthly low point of 74.07%, which came on Wednesday 24th November, still represents a three to one average for spam versus legitimate email.”
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.