SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., April 7 (UPI) -- With the onset of war in Iraq, e-mail from people marketing war-related merchandise has become the fastest growing new type of spam, according to SurfControl, an e-mail filtering company.
The company's global research team reported Monday for March that in less than a month, war-related spam rose from an insignificant number to nearly 10 percent of all spam. The company bases its report on all spam collected and monitored for SurfControl's anti-spam database.
Most of the war-related spam began to appear in mid-March, using patriotism and fear to sell everything from lapel pins to gas masks.
Among the most frequent war-related spam e-mail messages were: American Car Flags to Support our Troops; Celebrate American Courage: Take 4 History Books for $1 Each!; Defenders of Freedom U.S. Coin; Discover Platinum American Flag Card; Honor our Military with Exclusive Collectibles; Show Your Pride (T-shirts); Show your support with a U.S. Lapel Pin!; Support our Troops (T-shirts); Terrorist Threat, Please Read! (Water filtration system); Israeli Gas Masks in Stock for a Limited Time!
The spam e-mail selling gas masks, while not as frequent as many of the others, illustrates the rapid growth in war spam. Gas mask spam rose from zero in early February to 216 variations of gas mask spam by March.
Company official Paris Trudeau added that not only is spam a huge problem, but also junk mail, which while it is not attempting to sell any products can still tie up corporate e-mail accounts.
"Junk mail can be just as much of a nuisance to an enterprise as spam. And all Internet content you read, send and receive carries a risk. Companies need to be vigilant in managing e-mail to stop spam, junk, e-mail borne viruses and other risks that plague businesses," he added.
