What is spam?
Spam used to be funny when Monty Python's Flying Circus served up a comedy sketch about a restaurant that served only dishes containing the dubious canned meat. But today – more than 30 years later – we are no longer laughing as hard because the word spam has now gotten a new meaning.
Unavoidable
Spam has become the established name for the heaps of unwanted e-mails promoting Viagra, penis enlargement pills, unknown stocks and other questionable items that clog up inboxes of most Internet users. And the name is very well chosen, because the point of the Monty Python joke was exactly that you can't avoid spam no matter what.
E-mail spam, also known as bulk or junk e-mail, can be defined as unsolicited e-mail messages that are sent in bulk. Spamming pays off because there are no operating costs beyond the management of the mailing lists, and it is difficult to hold senders accountable for their mass mailings. Therefore, there are a lot of spammers and the volume of unsolicited mail is continuously increasing.
Some numbers for 2010:
1 in 284 emails contained malware.
91% of spam emails contain links.
2 out of 3 spam messages are related to pharmaceuticals.
The language most used is English with a 90% rate, while in 2009 it was used in 96% of spam.
The BullGuard Spamfilter protects you against spam
The BullGuard Spamfilter is an effective tool in the fight against a clogged up inbox. It checks every e-mail in a number of ways to determine whether it is genuine, spam or a phishing attempt. Thanks to collective user input, the BullGuard Spamfilter is constantly updated to block even the latest known types of spam.
When in doubt, as a BullGuard user, you can always get in touch with our dedicatedBullGuard Support Team. We are here to answer your questions 24/7.