Spam levels soar in Asia

The percentage of spam coming from most areas is significantly worse than the global average of 61 percent, according to data from security firm Symantec.

Among the worst hit nations are the Philippines at 88 percent, followed by South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand, where more than 80 percent of outgoing email is spam.

All countries in the Asia Pacific region, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand, generate more spam than the global average. In China, the world's most populous nation, 68 percent of messages sent are spam.

Symantec gathered data from users of its software and from a global network of computers and email accounts dedicated to recording spam, malware, botnet attacks and other online security threats.

The company noted that the region from which the spam originates may not correspond with the region in which the spammers are located because spammers often try to cover their tracks.

The impact of the Asian spam epidemic is being felt close to home. A quarter of the spam received in Asia during the first six months of the year originated in China, although this figure was a considerable decrease from the 37 percent recorded in the second half of 2006.

Japan is challenging China for the position of top spam source in the region, accounting for 24 percent of the total, up from 20 percent in 2006.

Rapid broadband growth in Asia means that many users are unfamiliar with basic online security measures. As a result, large numbers PCs are vulnerable to takeover by botnet operators who then use them to send out spam.