Europe leapfrogs US in spam league

Increase in PC ownership and broadband connections to blame

The amount of spam has risen nine per cent in the last year

Europe now relays more spam than the US, according to security vendor Sophos.

The US is still the biggest signle-country source of spam and has been the dominant region for production and relaying of junk emails, but that is starting change as spamming becomes more global.

'While the US remains top spam dog, the latest chart emphasises the urgent need for joined-up global action to combat this growing problem,' said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos.

'For every spam campaign, the spammers, the compromised computers used, and the people being deluged by the unsolicited mail are often located in totally different parts of the world.'

The vendor says the growing number of PCs across the US and Europe, combined with an increase in the amount of internet service providers offering cheap web access, are responsible for the strong Euro-American presence in the league table of spam producers.

The global volume of spam rose by around nine per cent during the second quarter of 2007, compared to the same period in 2006.

The UK is responsible for relaying 2.8 per cent of the world's spam, the tenth worst country in the world.