Pharmaceutical spam continues to rise

Worldwide spam volumes are being further driven by an increase in online pharmacy messages, say researchers.

According to a recent report from security firm Marhal8E6, 90 per cent of email traffic is due to spam messages. Meanwhile, the company estimates that of the total spam load, 75 per cent of that spam is for online pharmaceuticals.

Of the total spam load, Marshal8E6 researchers found that much of the spam traffic was driven by botnets. A recent report from MessageLabs reported similar findings.

Amongst the botnets that are spreading spam, researchers say that the Rustock botnet is among the worst. The botnet's infected machines are known for distributing particularly convincing spam messages.

"Rustock typically uses HTML templates from legitimate newsletters and inserts, or blends in, its own images and URL links," said Bradley Anstis, Marshal8e6 director of technology strategy.

"This helps give Rustock spam the appearance of professional, legitimate email which tricks recipients into clicking on the links or buying the advertised products."

Other trends noticed by researchers was the increased targeting of social networking sites and a rise in image spam.

The report from Marshal8e6 is the latest security assessment on what has been a continued rise in spam volumes over 2009.

Initially devastated by the November shutdown of hosting service McColo, spammers rebounded in the early months of the year and later weathered the loss of hosting firm 3FN to keep overall spam levels high.