You may be noticing an influx of SPAM email in your inbox lately. You’re not alone. SPAM email has been on the rise for the past several years, but what is happening lately is both universal and unprecedented….not to mention, flat-out annoying. Since SPAM can be dangerous, we wanted to take some time to explain why you may be getting more SPAM now, and what you can do about it.
Why am I getting so much spam?
Well, for starters, SPAM is big business. Hackers and criminals know that if they blast enough emails to enough people, someone will fall into their trap. The unfortunate fact is that it works. In late August, a global spambot attack increased the percentage of spam email to 90% of all the email sent in the world. While that particular attack has since died down, it explains the massive influx of junk email you’ve likely gotten.
Why isn’t my spam filter catching it?
It’s helpful to think about the sheer quantity of junk emails that a spam filter has to weed out on a daily basis. An individual receives on average 150-200 emails per day. For a company of 50 people, that’s 7,500 to 10,000 emails every day hitting your network. On average 20% or more of all email is spam or junk email – if the Spam filter blocks 99% of those junk emails, that means that 100 could still get through. The number of viruses filtered by Claris’ SPAM blocker increased by 398% during the recent global influx, and the number of SPAM emails blocked increased 98%. The technology is such at this point that even the best email blocking tools cannot effectively eliminate 100% of these emails.
What can I do to limit SPAM?
One of the best things you can do is keep your virus protection software up to date. If a computer is compromised, it may be unwittingly spreading SPAM emails. Additionally, if your company is having serious junk mail problems, it may be indicative of a wider network security issue. Claris can help with that. Click here to reach out to us if we can help you in any way.
Have additional SPAM questions? Reach out to us on Twitter @clarisntwrks or click here to jump on our Facebook page.
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