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At the same time that spam has shifted to carrying PDF files to slip past spam-filters (read my blog here), Sophos has released their study of the top 12 spamming countries from the 2nd quarter of 2007. Overall, the total volume of spam rose 9 percent in the second quarter when compared with the same quarter from 2006.

The U.S. continues to lead the pack at 19.6 percent of all spam, which represent a decrease of just .2 percent from the 1st quarter. The big change is with Europe, who now has 6 countries in the top dozen, and when added together, now totals more than the U.S. That means the number of compromised PCs in Europe is steadily rising.

The top 12 countries are:

U.S. at 19.6%
China at 8.4%
South Korea at 6.5%
Poland at 4.8%
Germany at 4.2%
Brazil at 4.1%
France at 3.3%
Russia at 3.1%
Turkey at 2.9%
UK at 2.8%
Italy at 2.8%
India at 2.5%

"While the US remains top spam dog, the latest chart emphasizes the urgent need for joined-up global action to combat this growing problem," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos. "For every spam campaign, the spammers, the compromised computers used, and the people being deluged by the unsolicited mail are often located in totally different parts of the world. A consolidated effort is needed not only to pursue and prosecute spammers, but also to convince computer users everywhere of the importance of blocking rather than responding to spam messages. Everyone has a part to play if we are to win the global battle against spam."

According to the study, the climb in spam is a result in the growing number of PCs in use, along with the number of ISPs offering cheap internet access, much of which is not protected against preventing heavy spamming. Said Theriault, “Internet service providers seriously need to examine whether they're doing enough to monitor whether their users are unwittingly relaying spam as well as educate them about the how to defend their home PCs."

While the top twelve represents some minor shifts in the individual nations, the biggest change comes in the “Other Countries” section, which grew from 30.6 percent in the first quarter to 35 percent in the second. This means that more and more countries are getting online and getting into the spam act.

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