Asked if this decline in the cost of spam to businesses demonstrated the value of anti-spam technology, Wettemann was skeptical. "Spam filtering helps," she said. "However, the spammers keep getting smarter and more innovative in the way they're getting around filtering technology."
For spammers, evolution may be necessary for survival, both from a business perspective and from a personal perspective. The survey indicates that frustration with spam has risen to the point where 18% of respondents said spammers should be jailed, with a third of those in favor of sentences longer than 36 months.
When provided with an "Other" option on questions about spammer punishment, respondents filled in the blank with suggestions that included "the death penalty, slow hanging [lowered gently from the gallows until the rope is taut?], public flogging, psychological assessment, and other responses that are inappropriate to print." From this, the survey concludes that nine out of 10 e-mail users are frustrated with spam and one in 100 "appear to be at the breaking point."
Whether spammers will ever really face the rage expressed in this survey remains to be seen. But given that 17% of respondents identified unsolicited e-mail from family and friends as spam, we all might be well advised to sleep with one eye open.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
There are many network courses that can address your present job's priorities and help you gain the needed skills to keep pace with industry changes and new technologies.
