Google says spam is huge corporate headache
Google released a white paper on Thursday about trends in electronic communications systems at corporations and found, to no surprise, that spam is a huge problem and getting worse.
While overall e-mail message volume per user grew 47 percent, the spam volume was up 57 percent in 2007 to record levels, according to data from Google's Postini cited in the 2008 Annual Google Communications Intelligence Report.
The average "unprotected user" would have received 36,000 spam messages in the year, up from 23,000 in 2006, the report said.
Stopping spam and other malware is the top priority for the government, legal, manufacturing and, for the most part the tech industry, while healthcare, financial and retail companies are more concerned with complying with government regulations, according to online surveys of 575 CEOs, CIOs, and CTOs.
The average volume of spam messages per user jumped significantly in August of 2007. It increased 100 percent within a seven day period, alone, according to Postini's data centers.
(Credit: Postini, a division of Google)
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor. 
