Spammers exploit conflict in Iraq

Spam exploiting the conflict in Iraq amounted to more than 10 per cent of all junk email last month, a vendor study reported yesterday.

According to web and email filtering firm SurfControl, most of the war-related spam began to appear in mid-March, using patriotism and fear to sell items including lapel pins, gas masks and "exclusive collectibles that honour our military".

One widely dispersed spam email, entitled 'Terrorist Threat, Please Read!', was attempting to sell water filtration systems.

"Spam is already a huge problem, but companies worldwide are coming to realise that it is only part of the problem," said Paris Trudeau, product marketing manager at SurfControl.

"Junk mail can be just as much of a nuisance to an enterprise as spam. And all internet content you read, send and receive carries a risk.

"Companies need to be vigilant in managing email to stop spam, junk, email borne viruses and other risks that plague businesses."