Nearly half the world's unsolicited e-mail originates in the United States, according to a report published this morning by Internet security firm Sophos.
After scanning spam delivered to designated addresses - or honeypots - in the last month, Sophos researchers found that the States, despite attempting to clean up its act by passing legislation aimed at tackling the problem only nine months ago, was responsible for exporting 42.5 per cent of all such e-mail traffic in July.
South Korea, where just over 15 per cent of all spam originated is in second place, while China, with more than 11 per cent, is in third.
"The States is still, by far, the biggest exporter of spam in the world," said Mr Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.
"Canada [which lies in fifth place] has made some progress, however, cutting the percentage of the world's junk e-mail sent from the country by over half - from 6.8 per cent six months ago to 2.9 per cent today," he continued.
Although Canada has improved its record dramatically, South Korea, which is the most broadband-connected country in the world, has gone in the opposite direction and is now a leading producer of the e-mail menace.
"Spammers are motivated by watching their bank accounts get fatter and fatter, and many have turned to hacking into innocent third-party computers to send their junk e-mails," Mr Cluley said.
Many computers responsible for sending out millions of pieces of spam are likely to have had their broadband connections exploited by remote hackers. "Zombie computers - PCs which have been compromised by hackers or virus writers - are sending out approximately 40 per cent of the world's spam, all without the apparent knowledge of the user," Mr Cluley said.
Figures from the United States show that 76 per cent of inbound e-mails in the country is spam. It is estimated that it costs businesses an average of $1,934 per employee a year based on lost productivity
The Dirty Dozen (The top 12 spam-producing countries)
1. United States 42.53%
2. South Korea 15.42%
3. China (& Hong Kong) 11.62%
4. Brazil 6.17%
5. Canada 2.91%
6. Japan 2.87%
7. Germany 1.28%
8. France 1.24%
9. Spain 1.16%
10. United Kingdom 1.15%
11. Mexico 0.98%
12. Taiwan 0.91%
Others 11.76%
