Bad e-mail habits sustains spam

The ‘bad behaviour’ of e-mail users is helping to sustain the spam industry, a new study has found. According to a survey conducted by security firm Mirapoint and market research company the Radicati Group, nearly a third of e-mail users have clicked on links in spam messages. One in ten users have bought products advertised in junk mail. Clicking on a link in a spam message can expose people to viruses and alert spammers to live e-mail accounts.

The fact that one in ten e-mail users are buying things advertised in spam continues to make it an attractive business, especially given that sending out huge amounts of spam costs very little, the report concludes. “This preliminary data is surprising and somewhat shocking to us,” said Marcel Nienhuis, market analyst at the Radicati Group. “It explains why e-mail security threats including spam, viruses and phishing scams continue to proliferate,” he said, accusing users of “bad e-mail behaviour”.

Spammers are increasingly hooking into whatever happens to be flavour of the month, according to security firm Clearswift. It has recently seen a rise in the number of spam messages offering phoney Sony PSP giveaways.