The UK stood fourth in the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list of spam relaying countries between October to December 2010, according to a report by software security firm Sophos.
The US leads the pack by generating 18.83% of all spam messages on the internet in the fourth quarter of 2010. India and Brazil stood second and third in the list.
The UK decreased its percentage of total spam output compared to the third quarter last year – from 5% to 4.54%.
Sophos noted that the nature of spam distributed has become more malicious now. The company warned that there has also been an increase in targeted email attacks, also known as spearphishing.
The firm also added that it continues to receive an increased number of reports of malicious apps, compromised profiles and unwanted messages spreading across social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Senior technology consultant Graham Cluley warned that victims are being tricked into clicking a link in an email which then leads them to a site that attacks their computer with exploits or attempts to implant fake anti-virus software.
