Companies: PNX    SRF   

‘Spam’ messages account for as many as nine out of every ten emails sent globally, says US email security company Postini, with spam messages having tripled in number since June.

To the chagrin of in-box owners everywhere, criminal gangs using hijacked computers are apparently driving this surge in unwanted emails, peddling anything from illegal investment advice to fake Viagra, and email systems are overloading or melting down in efforts to keep up. Postini detected a staggering seven billion spam emails globally throughout November, up dramatically from the 2.5 billion figure for June.

The spam problem domestically continues to grow at a frantic pace, with web filtering outfit SurfControl arguing that spam in the UK has burgeoned by 50 per cent over the past two months alone.

Experts have identified the US, Poland and China as key sources of spam, with Spamhaus, a body monitoring the problem, suggesting that 200 illegal gangs are behind 80 per cent of these pest communications.

Experts blame the spam rise on programmes that hijack home computers to send emails, linking them without their owners’ knowledge. Gangs then use huge ‘free’ computing power to send millions of emails with anonymity. Worryingly for business, spam can cost companies up to £516 a year per employee in lost productivity and higher computing bills, according to other recent research.

On the results front, IT services group Phoenix IT suffered a 6p share price drop to 295p despite posting some encouraging half-time figures to September. On flat sales, operating margins edged up from 17.6 per cent to 17.8 per cent, and profits perked up from £8.9 million to £9.2 million – the half time pay out from the cash generative counter was lifted more than 15 per cent.