According to the latest report from internet security provider Sophos, both Australia and the US have made significant  progress in reducing spam levels. However, the spam emanating from China has exploded upwards, with the world's most populous country now rivalling the US as the greatest source of unsolicited email.

Experts at Sophos scanned all spam messages received in its global network of spam traps and have revealed that although the US still heads up the chart, it has made significant reductions, and for the first time accounts for less than a quarter of all spam relayed. Australia is in 23rd place.

However, Sophos has also found -- on the eve of the date that Bill Gates predicted spam would be eradicated -- that the level of non-English language spam is continuing to increase, with the vast majority now being relayed by 'zombie' computers hijacked by Trojan horses, worms and viruses under the control of hackers.  Sizeable increases are also happening in "pump-and-dump" stock spam, designed to artificially inflate stock prices before spammers sell shares at considerable profit.

Helped by legislation such as CAN-SPAM and greater information sharing by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the US has led the way in imposing severe penalties and fines for those found guilty of spamming. Recently, an Iowa-based ISP was awarded A$15.1 billion (US$11.2 billion) in a judgment against Florida-based spammer James McCalla, while another spammer, Daniel Lin of Detroit, is facing a sentence of at moer than two years imprisonment.

Aside from China, which is vying for leadership of the spam generation market, another trouble spot that has been identified by the latest Sophos scan is France, which has more than quradupled its share of the global spam traffic in the past year. South Korea, formerly the number two spamming country, is a big improver, halving its share of global spam traffic in the past year.

According to Sophos, the top twelve spam relaying countries in October to December 2005 were as follows:

   1. United States                        24.5 %
   2. China (inc Hong Kong)       22.3 %
   3. South Korea                            9.7 %
   4. France                                      5.0 %
   5. Canada                                    3.0 %
   6. Brazil                                         2.6 %
   7. Spain                                        2.5 %
   8. Austria                                      2.4 %
   9. Taiwan                                     2.1 %
  10. Poland                                    2.0 %
  10. Japan                                      2.0 %
  12. Germany                                1.8 %

      Others                                     20.3 %

"We didn't seriously expect to see Australia back in the Dirty Dozen, and there were no unpleasant surprises in this regard, with Australia remaining in 23rd place," said Paul Ducklin, Sophos's head of technology, Asia Pacific.  "This list is partly good news and partly bad news.  The good news is that infection rates from malware seem to be much lower in Australia than they are, for example, in North America, even when population differences are taken into account.  So there are fewer zombies in Australia from which spam can be sent -- whether to users in Australia or abroad."

"The bad news is that the contribution of China is up by seven percentage points since October 2005, as the spam economy takes off over there.  Further bad news -- and perhaps more of a surprise -- is the continued rise in the percentage of spam from France, which has gone from 1.2% a year ago, to 3.5% in October 2005, to 5%."

Elsewhere in the chart, the amount of spam relayed by South Korean computers has fallen substantially from 19.73% to 9.7%, meaning that it has been overtaken by China, which moves into second place behind the US.  The UK, responsible for relaying 1.6% of spam, has managed to slip out of the dirty dozen altogether, and is currently in 14th position.

The fact that the dirty dozen is comprised of nations from four different continents gives an indication as to the nature of the spam problem.  Zombie computers -- responsible for relaying more than 60% of the world's spam -- can allow spammers to escape country-specific legislation, as they no longer have to be located in the same country as the spamming machines they operate.

Sophos recommends that computer users ensure they keep their anti-virus software up-to-date, as well as using a properly configured firewall and installing the latest operating system security patches, to reduce the risk of their PCs becoming part of a zombie network.  Businesses must also look to implement a best practice policy regarding email account usage.