More Than 70% of Email Is Spam

Mashable, By Kurt Wagner

If you've noticed more spam in your email inbox lately, you aren't alone.

A recent study by IT Security company Kaspersky Lab found that more than 70% of email sent in Q2 was actually spam, an increase of more than 4% over Q1 totals. This ratio may seem high, but it's not unheard of; spam totals were actually higher in Q2 last year, about 74% of all emails sent. The study did not define what it considers to be spam, but the United States Department of Justice classifies spam as "unsolicited commercial email."

An increase in spam was not the study's only interesting finding. Malicious email attachments slightly declined, but the they are becoming increasingly harder to spot.

Malicious attachments were found in 2.3% of all emails last quarter, and while that number is slightly lower than it was in Q1, the tactics used by senders to encourage unsuspecting recipients to open malicious links seem to be getting more creative. Read more.