CYBERSPACE – According to the latest spam research released by security firm Sophos, the United States remains leading point of origin for unsolicited email for individual countries, but a sharp increase in spam sent from China and South Korea has made Asia the top continent for spam.In terms of individual countries, the US still relays the most spam, with 23.1% of all spam being American-made. China and Hong Kong (counted as one entity in the report) account for 21.9%, while South Korea chips in 9.8%, according to the Sophos report. France and Poland, with 4.3% and 3.8% respectively, round out the top five spam nations.

“We are seeing spammers being successfully brought to justice in the US, but it’s important to remember that they can be based anywhere in the world,” said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos.

“In fact, the vast majority of spam is generated from zombie computers, hijacked PCs infected by malware,” Cluley added. “A combination of technology, legal action, user education and international co-operation is needed to truly make spam a thing of the past.”

According to Sophos, one reason for the expansion of spamming in China is that many computers in the country run older versions of Windows, making them easier for both spammers and hackers to exploit.

South Korea is an attractive target for essentially the opposite reason, Cluley said.

“South Korea has a fantastic Internet structure with immensely fast connections, and so it is a goldmine for spammers wanting to create botnets,” Cluley noted.

Cluley said that Europe is also becoming a major relay point for spam, and now generates almost as much as North America, with a share of 25%.

“I won’t be surprised if Europe overtakes North America next month,” said Cluley.