Survey: Some Businesses May Drop E-Mail To Combat Spam

Many small businesses have had enough of spam and are contemplating drastic measures to combat the problem, according to a survey commissioned by Symantec Corp. Productivity is being hampered and resources strained as a result of spam, leading some small businesses to consider eliminating the use of E-mail altogether, said the survey of 500 small businesses conducted for the security software vendor by InsightExpress.

More than half of the companies surveyed said the amount of spam in their in-boxes has increased over the past six months, with 33% citing this increase as dramatic. Of those surveyed, 40% said spam accounted for more than half of the E-mail their businesses receive.

These businesses said they would consider replacing E-mail with regular business mail. Those not considering abandoning E-mail are considering such measures as changing their E-mail address, or putting a clamp on their E-mail servers to only allow preset approved messages.

Inappropriate or offensive content is the chief complaint the respondents had about spam, according to InsightExpress, while many also said spam leads to a loss of productivity and distractions.