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Spam malware threat 'will increase' in 2009

Spam levels are forecast to continue climbing as incorporated viruses and malware become more frequent, Google has claimed.

The prediction is based on analysis of the latest Postini Message Security network data, which estimates that spam levels have increased by 156 per cent since November last year.

According to a Google Enterprise Blog post by Amanda Kleha, of the Google Message Security Team, the nature of the spam virus threat will remain uncertain in 2009.

Ms Kleha indicates that virus detection technologies are likely to become even more important as a result.

The Google team also expect spammers to work hard to return incidents of spam to levels seen prior to the collapse of the McColo server last year.

Data cited by Google indicates that the average unprotected user would have received 9,000 more spam messages in 2008 compared to the previous year.

The January 2009 MessageLabs Intelligence Report, published yesterday (January 26th), indicated that spam levels have increased by 4.9 per cent since December 2008.

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