No sign of spam rationing

Unsolicited spam email is set to make up the majority of global email traffic by the end of the year - increasing the pressure on corporate networks and mail servers.

Corporate networks are becoming increasingly clogged up by spam emails, most commonly offering pornography, and there's little relief (no pun intended) on the horizon.

Once a mild annoyance, unsolicited bulk email could make up the majority of message traffic on the internet by the end of 2002, according to data from three email service providers.

Enrique Salem, chief executive of anti-spam service provider Brightmail, said businesses "are seeing an enormous increase in spam. It's become a huge problem".

In July, according to Brightmail's latest interception figures, unsolicited bulk email made up a whopping 36 per cent of all email travelling over the internet, up from eight per cent a year ago.