Cloudmark International Spam Survey

Key Findings Summary

Cloudmark commissioned a new international study conducted online by Harris Interactive of more than 6,500 online adults in the U.S., France, Germany, Great Britain and China to gauge their sentiment and habits as they relate to email spam.

The results show that many users are reporting that they have seen an increase in spam messages over the past year, and they are most fearful that spam could infect their computers with viruses or result in identity theft. Meanwhile, many users reported that they have responded to spam messages and received a higher volume of spam or a virus as a result. Social networking spam was also reported as a form of unsolicited message received by users.

Despite all these concerns, the majority of users in the US and European countries still considered receiving spam less of an issue than not receiving messages from legitimate senders when it comes to anti-spam protection.

Survey results included:

  1. Users report that they are receiving more spam over the past year
    • 42 percent of US adults reported that they are receiving more spam this year.
    • 44 percent of European adults and 56 percent of Chinese adults reported that they are receiving more spam.
  2. Viruses, identity theft and disruption of sending/receiving messages top list of spam related fears
    • Users were most fearful that spam could result in their computers contracting viruses (74 percent of US adults; 69 percent of European; 69 percent of Chinese).
    • Identity theft was the second biggest fear reported by US and European users (56 and 51 percent respectively), and it ranked third among Chinese adults, with 46 percent.
    • The second biggest fear of adults in China (62 percent) was that spam would impair their ability to send or receive legitimate email, which ranked third among US and European adults, with 40 and 36 percent respectively.
  3. Many users are responding to spam, and facing the consequences for doing so
    • More than a third (38 percent) of US adults, 30 percent of European adults and 43 percent of Chinese adults who have ever received spam email reported that they have responded to a spam message.
    • Of those who had responded to a spam message, more than half of US and European users (55 percent and 54 percent) and more than two thirds of Chinese users (69 percent) said that something happened as a result, with receiving more spam and contracting a computer virus as the most common results reported.
  4. Users are receiving social networking spam
    • 40 percent of U.S. adults reported that they have received spam email that is related to social networks in some way (such as a friend request on Facebook or MySpace which clearly does not belong to a real person or organization) within the past 12 months.
    • By comparison, 35 percent of European adults, and 74 percent of Chinese adults reported having received social networking spam within that same time period.
  5. Users feel it is becoming more difficult to distinguish spam email from legitimate email
    • 35 percent of U.S. adults who have received spam email feel it is becoming more difficult to distinguish spam from legitimate email and 44 percent of European adults reported feeling this way.
    • Adults in China who have received spam email are significantly more likely to report feeling this way (74 percent).
  6. Many users have created separate e-mail accounts specifically for activities that may attract spam
    • 43 percent of U.S. users, Forty-eight percent of European users and seventy-nine percent of users in China reported that they have created e-mail accounts specifically for activities they feel may attract spam.
  7. Receiving spam vs. not receiving legitimate messages – What's worse?
    • In the U.S. and Europe, the majority of users (65 and 69 percent respectively) felt that not receiving an email from a legitimate sender was worse than receiving a spam message.
    • 54 percent of users in China felt that receiving a spam message was worse.
  8. Most U.S./European users report they have some form of anti-spam protection, while most in China do not.
    • The majority of U.S. and European adults (68 and 60 percent) reported that they do have some form of anti-spam protection on the computer where they check their email most frequently.
    • Meanwhile, only 36 percent of Chinese adults reported having anti-spam on the computers where they check email most frequently.