Cost of Junk Email to Exceed $10 Billion for American Corporations in 2003-Spam Plagues Wireless and Instant Messaging Services
Internet Wire
January 06, 2003
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Jan. 06, 2003 (INTERNET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Spam will cost
American corporations more than $10 billion in 2003, according to a new report
by Ferris Research, a San Francisco-based consulting firm. The report, "Spam Control: Problems and Opportunities"
(www.ferris.com/url/spam.html), finds that spam accounts for 15 to 20 percent of
inbound email at typical corporations, and 30 percent of inbound mail at ISPs. "Spam-related costs are increasing rapidly for both corporations and ISPs,
mainly as a result of lost productivity, consumption of IT resources and
helpdesk support," said David Ferris, president of Ferris Research. "Based on
interviews of corporate messaging managers, it's clear that spam is a major
problem for corporate IT departments. We estimate the total costs for spam in
corporations were $8.9 billion in 2002, and will increase to $14 per user per
month in 2003." Corporate users report that they expect the number of messages, as well as the
average size of each message, to increase substantially in 2003, leading to even
higher costs. In addition, some users expressed concerns that adult content spam
has the potential to create corporate liability as a result of U.S. employment
law. A pie chart showing the main components of spam costs is at
www.ferris.com/offer/spamcost.gif. Spam is also becoming a major issue for operators of wireless services and
instant messaging applications such as AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger,
Yahoo Messenger and ICQ. "Spam is getting frustrating for mobile users, and subscribers to Multimedia
Messaging Services (MMS) will become spam targets as operators provide
connectivity with the Internet," said Ferris analyst Marten Nelson. "Spam to
instant messaging users is growing rapidly and is often in the category of adult
content." The report also covers the growing economic opportunity for anti-spam products
and services, which are now offered by more than a dozen organizations including
Brightmail, MAPS, Postini, Trend Micro, Tumbleweed, ActiveState, Cloudmark and
MailFrontier. "We see a number of potential approaches to the problem based around user
education, industry initiatives, legislation and technology," Ferris said.
"Anti-spam technology is the most promising area of development, but legislation
will be completely ineffective in stopping spammers from sending spam." "Spam Control: Problems and Opportunities" is available from Ferris Research,
www.ferris.com, for $1,995. People interested in purchasing the report should
contact Ferris Research at walter.scheiber@ferris.com, or 415-986-1414 x103. About Ferris Research Ferris Research is a San Francisco-based market and technology research firm
that specializes in messaging and collaboration technologies such as email,
instant messaging, wireless handheld connectivity, and virus and spam control.
Our main customers are vendors, service providers, and corporate IT managers.
For more information, visit www.ferris.com or call +1 (415) 986-1414. Press Inquiries:
Tel 011 44 20 7835 1001 until January 12
Tel 1 415 986 1414x02 after January 13 For fastest response, send email to press@ferris.com Or contact David Ferris, david.ferris@ferris.com CONTACT: David Ferris 011-44-20-7835-1001
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