Xmas increases spam by 650 percent

Thanks Geronimo for this one.

Inboxes are being flooded with junk emails at an increasing rate during the holiday season, leading to network overload and fast-spreading viruses

The festive spirit has seen Christmas email spam swell 650 percent since this time last year, heightening the risks associated with unprotected networks and placing a burden on workplace bandwidth, according to SurfControl Australia.

SurfControl's Australian content development team has identified the 650 percent increase, which is reflective of a global trend, SurfControl Australia managing director, Charles Heunemann, told ZDNet Australia.

During non-holiday periods 60 percent of junk emails are regurgitated around the Web and the 650 percent increase is indicative of new junk email submissions to SurfControl's RiskFilter database --- which categorises junk email and blocks it from entering a customer's network.

News source: ZDNet