Study: Europe overtakes US in spam chart

While the US continues to be the biggest single-country source of spam, with 19.6 percent, junk emails sent from the UK, Italy, Germany, France, Poland and Turkey now accounts for 20.8 percent, according to the latest report by Sophos.

"While the US remains top spam dog, the latest chart emphasises the urgent need for joined-up global action to combat this growing problem," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos.

"For every spam campaign, the spammers, the compromised computers used, and the people being deluged by the unsolicited mail are often located in totally different parts of the world. Everyone has a part to play if we are to win the global battle against spam."

The report found that junk emails sent from the UK accounts for 2.8 percent of the world's spam, finishing 10th in the chart.

According to the security vendor, the overall global volume of spam rose by around nine per cent during the second quarter, when compared to the same period last year.

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