India now 6th top spam-relaying nation: Sophos Dirty Dozen report

Sophos has released its latest 'Dirty Dozen' of spam relaying nations, covering the second quarter of 2013. The U.S. continues to be the top spam-spewing country followed by Belarus at the second position. The list of top 12 nations has three new nations - Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Argentina, while France, Peru and South Korea have exited from the Dirty Dozen list. India has slipped to sixth position from the third spot in the last list.

Sophos says it's no surprise to see India and China in the Dirty Dozen, considering the massive population and ever-increasing demand for the Internet connectivity.

“...and with more than 300 million people and the lion's share of the world's internet connectivity, it’s also no shock that the US leads outright. So what happens when spam scores are scaled up or down in proportion to each country's population,” says Sophos in a release.

"Remember that the Dirty Dozen doesn't tell us from where the spam originates," says Paul Ducklin, Sophos security evangelist.

The top 12 spam-relaying countries by volume for April to June 2013

"It tells us how spam gets relayed from the crooks to their potential victims. Even if you're the most law-abiding citizen of the most law-abiding country in the world, you might be helping to project your own country into the Dirty Dozen if you don't take security seriously on your own computer. It may sound corny, but security really does begin at home."

The top 12 spam-relaying countries by population for April to June 2013