Saudi Arabia’s In-Bound Spam Rates Highest Worldwide at 82.7 Percent

Symantec’sMonthly Intelligence Reports,which monitor spam, virus and phishing rates around the world, have recorded Saudi Arabia as one of the top recipients of in-bound spam – reaching a rate of 82.7 percent in January. In fact, Saudi Arabia has consistently been subject to the highest in-bound spam ratesof any country across the globeover the last 6 months.

“Businesses in Saudi Arabia need to be cognizant of the high levels of in-bound spam targeting their email daily,” said Samer Sidani, Country Manager, Saudi Arabia, Symantec. “Spammers can dispense billions of unsolicited emails daily by using botnets, robot networks, and computers infected with malware and under the control of cyber criminals; subsequently clogging-up company networks and slowing down communications.”

Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) launched in 2012 noted that spam continues to be a problem for many organizations,slowing down user-productivity and negatively affecting businesses if their email servers become overwhelmed by millions of spam messages daily. Businesses witnessing a high level of incoming spam could also potentially be under a cyber-attack asspam can be a channel for cyber criminals to gain access to a company’s networks and from there, launch a malicious targeted attack.

*Spam rate per month according to Symantec Intelligence Reports

The high level of spam in Saudi Arabia can be attributed to cyber criminals capitalizing on growinginternet penetration, and while understanding of online security is growing, it remains a relatively new consideration for users. In the August and September 2012 Monthly Intelligence from Symantec, Saudi Arabia also ranked as a top source for spam– linking the country to heightened botnet activity. Bot-infected computers are programs that are covertly installed on a user’s machine in order to allow an attacker to control the targeted system remotely. Attackers use bots to perform a variety of tasks, such as setting up denial-of-service (DoS) attacks against an organization’s website, distributing spam and phishing attacks, distributing spyware and adwareand harvesting confidential information that may be used in identity theft—all of which can lead to serious financial and legal consequences.

Businesses in Saudi Arabia need to prioritize information security by taking appropriate protection measures and putting security solutions in place to safeguard themselves and their data. Below are Symantec’s tips to help businesses protect against spam.

• Keep Security Software Up to Date: Patch your operating system and software regularly and use message security and antivirus solutions. The majority of email is spam, and up-to-date securitysolutions help filter these out.
  • Enforce IT Policies and Educate End-Users:A single negligent user is enough to give attackers a way into an organization from which to mount additional attacks on the business from within.Users should be protected and educated toavoid opening attachments unless they come from a trusted source, to never download unknown software from the Internet, and to make sure their browser is up-to-date.
  • Be Cautious of Unsolicited Emails: Do not purchase products from these offers. Many spammers will sell financial and personal data gathered from such sales to other spammers or hackers, resulting in malware and phishing and spam attacks from third party sources.
  • Do Not Open Suspicious Links or Attachments: Short URLs makes it more difficult for users to know what they are clicking on, and it increases the work needed for spam filtering software to check if a link in an email is legitimate or not.
  • Don’t Respond: Do not send an email response to the spammers, you will only be letting them know that they have a live address, ensuring that you will receive more spam. Instead, report it to your Internet Service Provider and block the sender’s domain. Blocking individual addresses is often ineffective since spammers only use them once.
  • Block It: Make sure your PC is protected by antispam software that automatically filters out annoying, dangerous, or fraudulent emails from your inbox. Automatically blocking all images in your email application helps reduce spam. Even if you don’t click any links, an image opening in your email can alert spammers to a live address, too.
  • Hide your address: Spammers regularly scour the Internet to locate email addresses on Web sites and will easily find yours. You can hide your address with code or in an image, so that spam bots won’t be able to recognize it.