The survey is open to the public and relates to how users protect themselves against spam and phishing threats.

Montreal, Canada, Thursday – January 26, 2012 – Vircom Inc, a leader in email security has just released its preliminary findings from an ongoing spam survey. The survey is open to the public and relates to how users protect themselves against spam and phishing threats. The 3 minute survey can be found at www.vircom.com/u/spamsurvey.

Preliminary analysis reveals 45% of the respondents openly share address book and email credentials on social networks and more than three quarters connect to unencrypted WiFi hotspots in public locations. Both these types of activity lead to stolen and abused email credentials which are then used by spammers to collect email intelligence and spread additional spam and malware. Research also suggests that a quarter of respondents don’t regularly check email headers when reading bank emails. Such relaxed attitudes make users prone to spam(particularly phishing campaigns) which ultimately lead to stolen bank account credentials, and fraud.

“What’s the most interesting is how people react to spam once in their inbox. One out of 3 users are likely to read spam if the subject line strikes a chord with them. And more than half of them are likely to click spam links or download attachments,”said Marc Chouinard, Head of Anti-Spam and Malware Operations at Vircom Inc. “This goes to show the challenges corporate IT administrators face in curbing spam related security threats. Even with the most robust spam filters,end-user training is required to correctly handle spam.”

The survey will continue for the next few weeks. Participants are eligible to win regular prizes such as gift cards from BestBuy, Subway and Apple iTunes, along with a grand prize of the new iPhone 4S. After survey completion, Vircom plans to use the research data to optimize its spam fighting software as well as enhance corporate training for clients. Parts of the research will also be shared with the public.

About Vircom:
Vircom Inc. is a software development and professional services company focused exclusively on email messaging security. Founded in 1994, Vircom is the only email security vendor to offer a wide range of deployment options, proprietary anti-spam technology, complete Windows™ infrastructure integration and premium customer service. Its award-winning products include modusMail™, modusGate™, modusGate™ VM and modusGate™ Appliance. Vircom technology is made available to several major security providers and businesses, and deployed through third-party vendors to customers in more than 100 countries. For additional information, please visit http://www.vircom.com or call 1-888-484-7266.

BestBuy, Subway Restaurants, iTunes and iPhone are all trademarks owned and maintained by their respective owners.

Press & Media Contact:
John Kurien
Vircom Inc
460 Ste-Catherine West, suite 600
Montréal, Québec H3B 1A7 CANADA
+1.514.845.1666 ext. 253
john.kurien@vircom.com

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