In the third quarter of 2007, a study by the internet security firm GData found that ninety-five percent of the world’s emails were spam. This influx is tied to the payments received by those who create the spam. The study explains that the business model is straightforward: spammers earn more money the more unwanted emails they send.
Pharmaceutical spam, including ads for Viagra and penis enlargement methods, accounts for 30 percent of spam emails, as highlighted in the report. It also indicates that PDF spam has decreased from 30 percent in the first quarter of this year to 5 percent in the last quarter analyzed.
The study’s authors caution that, beyond the time and productivity lost to spam, some emails may include malicious links that lead to websites spreading harmful code. Currently, this type of spam constitutes 8 percent of the total, and GData indicates that 50 percent of malware infections originate from the websites linked in these emails.
The Cybersecurity Unit strongly advises against opening unsolicited emails or those from unknown sources and recommends deleting them immediately, as email is the primary method of virus transmission. They also suggest being skeptical of messages that request you to forward them to others, especially those that profess to be philanthropic or promise exciting news or good luck.
Many of these messages aim to capture email addresses for commercial gain and are a scam known as a “hoax.”
Some spam emails may also be linked to “phishing,” a scam where a user’s confidential information is obtained by impersonating a trusted person or company in seemingly official electronic communication.
Security experts anticipate an increase in spam overall, and particularly in phishing.