People Less Bothered By Spam E-Mails Continue, but Filters Lessen Annoyance Factor

Barracuda Central receives an average of 1 billion spam and virus submissions daily from more than 40,000 customers worldwide. The scope and integrity of this data has enabled us to pioneer an innovative filtering technique called Predictive Sender Profiling that goes beyond traditional reputation analysis.

AVG Daily Spam

Received	(100%)
Blocked	(90.6%)
Allowed	(9.4%)

Internet users are being plagued by more spam e-mails but are less bothered by the onslaught of unsolicited pitches, according to a report released Wednesday. The survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 37 percent of consumers said they are getting more spam in their personal e-mail accounts than in the past. However, only 18 percent called spam a big problem, down from a quarter of all respondents four years ago. The findings reflect that consumers are increasingly fighting back against spam by using filters to keep their inboxes clear, a highly recommended but only partially effective tactic.

For years, Internet users have been desperate for a solution to spam, without much luck. A federal law, the Can-Spam Act of 2003, created rules for commercial e-mail and created penalties for those who violate the law, but it ultimately failed to reduce the volume of unwanted messages.

For example, Barracuda Networks, a Mountain View company that sells spam and virus filters, said spam volume quintupled over five months last year. Various studies show that 80 to 95 percent of all e-mail is now spam. Simply sorting through in-boxes to find legitimate messages from friends, colleagues and clients eats up a lot of time. Virtually anyone who relies on e-mail to do his or her job knows the cost to productivity.

"Normally you may get 50 e-mails a day with a spam filter," said Dean Drako, chief executive of Barracuda Networks. "But without, you might get thousands, so you can't find your real e-mail." Filtering spam is a constant struggle because of the changing tactics by those who send the messages. Many spammers are based outside the country and bounce their pitches between various computers to increase the likelihood that their e-mails elude junk mail folders

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