One in 10 UK websites sends spam.

November 8, 2010

According to Spam Ratings, their research suggests that the volume of spam from websites has risen 110% in the past 12 months, with one in every 10 UK websites being responsible for some level of spamming.

Not all the spam is of the 'bUY V14GRA CHEeP!!!' variety - much of it is simply unsolicited commercial emails. The survey also found that one in five websites automatically opt their customers in to having their details passed on to thrid parties - which breaches email marketing best practice. Among the sites Spam Ratings accuses of this are Argos, Ticketmaster, and Money Supermarket.

The research indicates that 30% of all emails recieved were from third parties, meaning that personal data is being sold on what Spam Ratings describes as 'a worrying scale'.
.But some of the spam is more than just annoying - many of them are potentially malicious. Of the emails that they classify as 'dangerous', they say that 40% are sex or pharmaceuticals-related, 35% are financial scams, 15% are phishing attempts (emails purporting to come from some trusted source in an effort to get more personal information, such as logins for other sites, from the user), and 10% contain malware or links to malicious sites.

Author:  Metro.co.uk

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