Spam Not The Problem It Once Was According To Avira Survey

PRESS RELEASE

Tettnang, Germany --- May 25, 2011 – IT security expert Avira found during recent surveys of its customers that email spam is still an everyday occurrence, but not the nuisance it once was. Nearly half of all end-users are satisfied with the anti-spam filters on their PCs and laptops, plus many others rely upon their ISPs to filter messages. The vast majority of users receive fewer than 10 spam emails per day.

Survey questions were presented to Avira’s 100 million customers worldwide during the months of March and April, 2011.

Do you use anti-spam on your PC or laptop?

A) 45% - Yes, and I am satisfied.

B) 10% - Yes, but I am dissatisfied.

C) 26% - No, but I would if there was a good product.

D) 19% - No, I am using a solution that is part of my Internet provider’s service.

- 2,329 respondents with a margin of error of +/- 2.03 percent.

How much spam do you receive on a daily basis?

A) 72% - 10 email messages.

B) 18% - 25 email messages.

C) 4% - 100 email messages.

D) 6% - Over 100 email messages.

- 2,236 respondents with a margin of error of +/- 2.07 percent.

“The Spam landscape has clearly changed in the last two years with the take down of a couple of major botnets.,” said Sorin Mustaca, data security expert at Avira GmbH. “Considering the fact that almost all email providers have a form of spam filtering installed on their servers, end-users receive only what the anti-spam solutions on the servers don’t catch. What really surprised me was that 45% of the users answered that they have an anti-spam solution on their computers and that they are satisfied with it. Overall, there is work to be done within the security industry to get rid of 100% of all spam emails, but progress is being made.”

The larger security challenges today include fighting web-based Trojans and spyware that harvest credit card numbers and personal identity information. “But I still don’t recommend anyone clicking open spam emails, as many of them are linked to malicious websites. It’s always best to stay safe from unknown links in emails,” said Mustaca.”

About Avira

Avira stands for extreme reliability and internet freedom around the globe.

The company was founded 25 years ago on Tjark Auerbach's promise to "make software that does good things for my friends and family". Because of Avira's security expertise and award-winning antivirus software, today more than 100 million consumers and small businesses live free of spyware, phishing, worms and other internet based threats. The company delivers IT-security protection to computers, servers and networks both directly and in the cloud.