McAfee’s latest threat report for the fourth quarter of 2009 saw a drop in
spam over the period, although the year ended with overall amounts rising.
In the last quarter of the year spam levels dropped from a record of 175bn
per day in the third quarter to 135bn, a decline of 24 per cent. However spam
levels are likely to rise again, especially given a 40 per cent rise in one day,
December 14th, as spammers looked to scoop last minute shoppers.
“Even though we saw a decline this quarter, the overall historical trend
still points upward. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2008, volume is up 35
percent,” the report finds.
