MX Logic Reports Compliance with Anti-Spam Law Increased to 6 Percent in November; Highest Monthly Compliance to Date.

DENVER -- Zombie Networks Responsible for as Much as 69 Percent of Daily Spam; Users Urged to Protect Their PCs During Holiday Season

MX Logic, Inc., a leading provider of innovative email defense solutions that ensure email protection and security for businesses, service providers, government organizations, resellers and their customers, reported today that 6 percent of unsolicited commercial email in November complied with the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act.

This represents the highest monthly compliance to date and an increase from 4 percent compliance in October. Seventy-five percent of all email traffic through the MX Logic Threat Center in November was spam.

"Nearly a year after President Bush signed the CAN-SPAM Act, compliance remains marginal, while the overall volume of spam has increased steadily," said Scott Chasin, chief technology officer, MX Logic.

MX Logic also reported that within the last three weeks, a prime online holiday shopping period, spam sent through so-called zombie PCs climbed as high as 69 percent in a single day. Zombie PCs are neglected, "always-connected" broadband PCs that spammers hijack by installing a spam Trojan. Once infected, these zombie PCs provide worm authors with remote command-and-control spam-distribution capabilities, allowing them to create a legion of zombie computers that can pump out unwanted email and initiate Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.

"The CAN-SPAM Act might have deterred some part-time spammers," Chasin said. "However, our data indicate that the act has had little impact on sophisticated spammers, who continue to leverage networks of hijacked PCs, as well as other tools to disseminate unsolicited and often fraudulent email."

As users go online to shop during the holiday season, Chasin said it is critical that they take the following steps to protect themselves from spam, worms, viruses, phishing attacks and other malicious email.

--Disconnect from broadband connections when your PC is not in use and especially before you leave for a holiday vacation

--Update your PC with the latest security patches and software. For Windows XP users, install Service Pack 2 (SP2)

--Update virus protection frequently and particularly when logging on after holiday vacation

--Never open suspicious email messages or attachments

--Do not disclose personal information (account numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers) in an email, instant message or pop-up window 

--Report any questionable or fraudulent email or web site to your service provider or network administrator

"While the law is invaluable in providing tools to seek criminal and civil recourse against spammers, no one expected the law to solve the spam plague," Chasin said. "We need continued progress in anti-spam technology, industry cooperation in improving authentication and security protocols, as well as end-user education. At the end of the day, an educated end-user is the first line of defense against spam and other email threats."

MX Logic has measured CAN-SPAM compliance each month since the law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2004. Monthly compliance has ranged from a low of 0.54 percent in July to November's high of 6 percent. MX Logic tracks compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act by examining a random sample of 10,000 unsolicited commercial emails each week.

Media and analysts interested in receiving monthly CAN-SPAM compliance statistics can subscribe to MX Logic's CAN-SPAM update by sending an email to [e-mail].

About MX Logic

MX Logic, Inc., provides innovative email defense solutions that ensure email protection and security for businesses, service providers, government organizations, and resellers and their customers. Deployed as a managed service or on-premise software, the company's feature-rich solution suite is the industry's most comprehensive, flexible and easy to use.

Founded by messaging industry pioneers, MX Logic has delivered numerous industry firsts to the enterprise spam market, including becoming the first managed service provider to leverage Bayesian Statistical Classification; provide spam beacon ("Web bug") blocking; offer quarantine management via email; provide corporate-level quarantine release reports that help reduce inappropriate email while decreasing corporate liability; and deliver a solution for tracking URL click-throughs from email to the Web, providing increased corporate control and security.

MX Logic processes hundreds of millions of messages per day for over 3,000 businesses worldwide, including EnCana, Hyundai Motor America, The Sports Authority, YMCA and ServiceMaster. In addition, MX Logic is the only email defense company to offer both a managed service and a turnkey, carrier-grade software solution. For more information, visit www.mxlogic.com.