Spam and botnet levels continue to soar

The number of spam messages jumped to a record 94% of all email on the Internet last month, SC Magazine UK reported.

More than 25 bln spam messages were blocked in December, an increase of 144% from the previous year.

This rise in spam is linked to a virus released by hackers in late December, called the ‘Happy New Year’ worm, which infected high numbers of computers with botnets and then pumped out spam, experts claim.

The worm, also known as Nuwar and Mixor, was hidden in electronic postcards posing as greetings from friends and family. This widespread attack drove the daily number of email-borne viruses up 20-fold across the New Year weekend.