Spam persists: 30 percent of people buy from it

Look no farther than the next ten Internet users to find the reason for all that junk in your inbox. Three of them probably bought male enhancement pills or fake Rolexes from a spammed solicitation.


Those of you who have spent any time as a security professional overseeing desktop users undoubtedly encounter spam, and have to deal with it as part of the job. Spam could bring more to the desktop than purported Disney World giveaways; it may deliver a Trojan, or a link to other malware.

The spam keeps coming because it's profitable. It requires a low response rate from recipients because sending millions of spams costs little.

Techdirt and others picked up on security vendor Marshal and its assessment of the spam problem. This latest estimate of people who buy goods from sites via dodgy emails pegged the number at 30 percent.

Marshal actually put the number at 29.1 percent, but 30 sounds more impressive. For all we know it could really be 31.

Whatever the number, I know security pros would like to see it decline. So should anyone else with a concern about their loved ones and where their financial information might land by exposing it to what may be a less than reputable seller.

Having your credit card land on some Russian bulletin board isn't the best way to safeguard information, no matter how good the deal is that you received in a spam.