Nearly 95% of the email sent in 2007 has been 'spam,' junk advertising loathed by its recipients, a study by a US web security firm, quoted by an AFP report, said.
The AFP report said the amount of junk email has skyrocketed despite a 2004 US CAN-SPAM Act that placed restrictions on sending unwanted messages and sanctioned penalties for 'spammers,' according to California-based Barracuda Networks.
Junk messages made up an estimated 70% of email the year the act was passed, the Barracuda report indicates.
Barracuda said it based its findings on analysis of more than a billion email messages received daily by its approximately 50,000 customers worldwide, the AFP report said.
Spammers cunningly hide their identities by routing e-mails through other people's websites, blogs or computers, according to Barracuda.