Industry reacts to email diet of 50 per cent spam

Spam has officially overtaken legitimate email in the workplace, and there’s little relief in sight.

The month of May marked the first time that unsolicited email comprised 51 per cent of all messages received by workers, according to MessageLabs.

In a statement Mark Sunner, chief technology officer of MessageLabs, said: "The volume of spam now facing computer users every day has far surpassed the point of being a nuisance and is now causing significant productivity losses and costs at businesses across the world."

Internet service providers and lawmakers in recent months have considered a range of measures for reducing spam, including the use of new technology, industry self-regulation and legislation. But those efforts may not pay off for two or three years, executives say.

Last month, Enrique Salem, CEO and president of anti-spam firm Brightmail, predicting the fact that spam would hit the 50 per cent mark, told silicon.com: "We are going to see a situation where more than 50 per cent of email is spam."

However, Salem believes economic, rather than legislative obstacles, are the way to go: "This trend will continue until we can create enough of an economic disincentive - making it cost-prohibitive for the spammers."

Ryan Hamlin, head of Microsoft's antispam technology and strategy group, said at a recent industry gathering that spam will likely continue to outpace legitimate email in 2003. But he added that through recent efforts to curb spam, including potential federal legislation that criminalises junk mail forgery, some relief is expected in 2004 or 2005.

MessageLabs uses a global network of "control towers" that filter email for viruses and unwanted solicitations. The network - which spans the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong - is centrally managed and scans millions of messages each day.

Stephanie Olsen writes for News.com