Idaho Tops America's Most-Spammed States

An anonymous reader writes "MessageLabs unveiled a list of the top US spammed states, with surprising results — the spam capital of the US is Idaho, with 93.8 percent of spam, far exceeding the global spam rate for September 2009 of 86.4 percent. Idaho has jumped 43 spots since 2008 when it was ranked the 44th most spammed state. The difference can be attributed to the resilient and aggressive botnet market as well as a higher volume of global spam that has ensued since the beginning of the credit crisis toward the end of 2008."

Comments

I understand where you are going, but...

[swanzilla]

FTA:

MessageLabs unveiled a list of the top U.S. spammed states, with surprising results - the spam capital of the US is Idaho with 93.8 percent of spam, far exceeding the global spam rate for September 2009 of 86.4 percent.

...what sort of poorly-stated metric is "percent of spam"

Re:I understand where you are going, but...

[SoupGuru]

I agree. I have no idea what that means. I assume that they mean what percent of overall mail is spam.

I'm also having problems finding their methods. Or ideas why Idaho would top the list. "The recession" isn't a localized phenomenon affecting just Idaho.

Garbage.

Ugh, horrible bad usage, batman

[Red Flayer]

Idaho has 93% of spam. No.

Spam comprises 93% of emails in Idaho. Very big difference.

And as for the reasons given? Ridiculous, unless you can also explain why Idaho was disproportionately affected by those factors.

You want to know the real reasons Idaho is one of the most spammed states?

Higher percentage of "noob" users. Idaho came to the table pretty late, and a disproportionate number of people in Idaho don't yet know basic ways of reducing spam.

Or possibly, people in Idaho are more likely to fall for spam advertising.

But in no way do the reasons given (which relate to the total increase in spam) explain Idaho's predicament.

Conclusion does not support evidence

[Captain Spam]

The difference can be attributed to the resilient and aggressive botnet market as well as a higher volume of global spam that has ensued since the beginning of the credit crisis toward the end of 2008.

Um... no, those two facts can perhaps help to explain the overall increase in spam, globally. They do absolutely nothing to explain why Idaho, specifically, has jumped up the list of being spammed more often per capita.