Government and business must work together and across borders to tackle spam, said the OFT today at a summit of international spam enforcement agencies in London.
The summit, hosted by the OFT and the European Commission Contact Network of Spam Enforcement Authorities brings together over 60 public and private sector agencies from over 27 countries to promote cross-border cooperation on spam and spam-related problems, such as on-line fraud and computer viruses. These agencies, signatories to the London Action Plan on spam, have undertaken to work together to tackle spam through smarter, more strategic law enforcement and by educating consumers and business on how to avoid falling victim to spammers.
Bulk unsolicited electronic messages, or spam, accounts for over 66 per cent of all e-mail traffic on the internet, or 2 out of 3 emails. In 2004 some 25.5 billion messages were spam. Spam email is frequently linked to fraudulent, deceptive or pornographic commercial activities. It is estimated that over 80 per cent of spam received by UK internet users originates from overseas, making cross-border collaboration on enforcement essential. Examples of enforcement action and other anti-spam initiatives undertaken by LAP members include:
The conference will include sessions on effective collection of spam data by enforcement agencies the authentication of email multi-country spam enforcement and investigative assistance across borders and the development of an efficient international case referral system.
Related links: (Open in a new window.)
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
www.messagelabs.com
www.oft.gov.uk
Taken from Information Security Bulletin.