Spam at lowest level since 2008

New Symantec research highlights continuing challenge to business

The global torrent of spam is at its lowest level since 2008, according to a new report, however Britons are the most likely to be recipients of unwanted emails – particularly malicious ones.

The number of spam messages being sent globally every day has fallen dramatically since concerted efforts to take down the Rustock botnet in March.

In June 2011, spam accounted for 73 per cent of all email messages, according to security firm Symantec. Last year, spam made up 89 per cent of all email.

Despite the drop, spam remains a significant threat to businesses, warned Paul Wood, senior intelligence analyst, Symantec.cloud.

“Spam remains a huge problem and spam levels continue to be unpredictable,” he said.

According to Symatec, Britons receive the highest proportion of malicious emails, with one in 132 emails classified as malicious. Meanwhile one in every 130 emails received in the UK was a phishing attack.