Tiscali Press Release - 'SPAM' COSTS UK BUSINESSES £9.9BN PER YEAR

Tiscali UK, a subsidiary of Tiscali, the Internet communication company, has found that over 50% of all email is unsolicited 'spam', potentially costing UK businesses £9.9bn per year.*

In the survey, conducted amongst over 1300 email users from across the UK, Tiscali also found that -

99% of all email users are victims of spam.

Over a quarter of email users receive more than 100 spams a week.

61% of email users say that over half their email is now spam.

1/3 of spam has 'adult' or pornographic content.

To combat the spam plague, Tiscali is launching Secure Mail, a new product which incorporates Brightmail anti-spam and Brightmail/Symantec anti-virus software. For £4.99 per year, the package enables email users to filter spam and the viruses they carry.

Neal McCleave media director for Tiscali says: "Unsolicited 'spam' email is rapidly becoming an issue for business users and it's a problem which is being compounded by the fact that 90% of viruses come via email.

Nevertheless, our new product represents a major breakthrough in the fight against unsolicited email. It provides choice and ensures maximum protection for our users."

Tiscali will be attending the All-Party Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) 'Spam Summit' on 1 July. McCleave continues: "It will be interesting to see what the APIG recommends in terms of action to control the distribution of spam. From the industry's perspective one of the things we can do is to provide the means and education to enable our customer to protect their email from it."

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