Australian spammers contribute less than 1% to the global spam problem

Sydney, Monday 30 June, 2003 - messagecare, an Australian company that provides Internet users with spam protection through its filtering service, SpamTrap, today released figures showing that Australian spammers contribute just 0.5% to the global spam problem. Australia was positioned 19th in the world behind countries like the United States, China, Korea and Brazil.

"Domestic anti-spam legislation is not enough to win this war," declared Andrew Kent, messagecare CEO. "While I commend the Federal Government on taking steps towards enacting national anti-spam legislation, more must be done to protect every Australian email user from the 99% of spam that originates outside of this country."

"I urge the Government to consider how they can ensure every Australian is given the opportunity to have spam filtering tools made available to them," added Mr Kent. "Filtering is critical to stemming the spam tide and it provides users with immediate relief."

messagecare's analysis into global spam origination was conducted over a 10 day period, using spam data collected through its global spam trap network. Australia ranked 19th, contributing 0.5% to the global spam problem. The top 10 countries where spammers were most active include:

1. United States - 33%
2. China - 18%
3. Korea - 9%
4. Brazil - 4%
5. Canada - 3%
6. United Kingdom - 2%
7. Italy - 2%
8. Mexico - 2%
9. Germany - 2%
10. Taiwan - 1%

"Spam is a global epidemic. To win this war, we must embrace multiple defense strategies including seeking international Government co-operation, particularly with those countries where spam sending is most prolific, as well as industry participation, end-user education programs, technology solutions and tough regulatory action," added Mr Kent.

"Solving the spam problem at the global level will take time. The Government's real priority should be how they can protect Australians today from the millions of junk emails that cross through our borders every day," concluded Mr Kent.