Survey: Millions of users open spam emails, click on links
Dancho Danchev March 25, 2010
How many users access spam emails, click on the links found within, and open attachments intentionally? Why are they doing it, and who are they holding responsible for the spread of malware and spam in general, in between conveniently excluding themselves?
A newly released survey from the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG), summarizing the results of the group's second year survey of email security practices, offers an interesting insight into the various interactions end users tend to have with spam emails.
Key findings of the survey:
Nearly half of those who have accessed spam (46%) have done so intentionally - to unsubscribe, out of curiosity, or out of interest in the products or services being offered
Four in ten (43%) say that they have opened an email that they suspected was spam
Among those who have opened a suspicious email, over half (57%) say they have done so because they weren't sure it was spam and one third (33%) say they have done so by accident
Canadian users are those most likely to avoid posting their email address online (46%). Those in the U.S., Canada and Germany are most likely to set up separate email addresses in order to avoid receiving spam
Many users do not typically flag or report spam or fraudulent email
When it comes to stopping the spread of viruses, fraudulent email, spyware and spam, email users are most likely to hold ISPs and ESPs (65%) and anti-virus software companies (54%) responsible
Less than half of users (48%) hold themselves personally responsible for stopping these threats
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