U.S. Spam Shame

Over a third (34 percent) of websites containing malicious code, or malware, are hosted in the U.S. That’s more than any other country in the world.

by Helen Leggatt

These are the findings of a recent Security Threat Report by Sophos, a world leader in I.T. security. China came a close second with 31 percent.

"The US remains a hot spot for online criminal activity, and despite authorities' continued efforts to clamp down on cyber crime, too many US-hosted websites still have lax security measures in place," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant for Sophos. "Given the effectiveness of web-based attacks, web hosting companies in the US and elsewhere need to step up their policing of published content, and ensure that malicious code is quickly removed, before innocent users get hit."

The U.S. and China also topped the chart of spam-relaying nations, with 22 percent and 16 percent respectively.

After a lull in the amount of spam that started during December last year, spam has returned with a vengeance. According to The Red Tape Chronicles , the amount of spam sent every day is 62 million, twice as much as the same time last year.