Last week I wrote an analysis of what it would cost a customer of mine if they did not have any spam protection.  The time spent by staff dealing with spam emails in their inbox quickly added up to nearly $144,000 per year, which is well in excess of what a top quality anti-spam solution would cost them.  Some businesses do not realise how much spam can cost them, but even more do not realise just how inexpensive it is for the spammer to do this.

BBC World News took an inside look at one of the biggest sources of spam and malware in today’s world – Russia.  What they found was an online criminal world in which the tools to spam millions of email users around the world could be had for as little as $200.  The enterprising malware authors will even sell you a $50 upgrade if anti-malware companies begin detecting your software, or you can even have an ongoing maintenance plan for just $2500 per year.  The spammer need only outlay a few thousand dollars in a year to be able to turn regular people’s computers into spam bots and send hundreds of millions of spam emails promoting shoddy products, fake goods, and other types of scams.

US researchers concluded that even with only a 0.00001% success rate of people falling for spam the sheer volume of messages sent can mean as much as $2million for the spammer each year.

When you consider the potential profits for spammers it is no wonder it attracts criminals in droves.  The spammer is paying peanuts to not only make millions of dollars from regular people but also costing unprotected businesses tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in lost productivity just from sorting through the junk.

By implementing an effective anti-spam solution in your business you protect your end users from criminals, keep money out of the criminals’ pockets, and save your business money as well - all outcomes that are well worth the investment.