Press release:
eleven Anniversary Survey: IT Decision-makers Expect Growing E-mail Security Threat in the Next Few Years
eleven celebrates its ten-year anniversary – Spam surge most important trend of the past ten years – More than one third expect the spam volume to surge again
Berlin, December 1, 2011 – A surge in the volume of spam was the greatest threat to IT and e-mail security in the past ten years. This is the result of a survey of German IT decision-makers that leading German e-mail security provider eleven carried out on the occasion of the company’s tenth anniversary. A total of 35.6 percent of the responses indicated that spam growth was the most dangerous trend in the past ten years, followed by phishing (33.7 percent). Botnets, which are responsible for over 90 percent of the worldwide spam volume, took third place with 16.3 percent. Founded on December 15, 2001, in Berlin, eleven is a pioneering company in the managed e-mail security area.
Another important finding: German companies are pessimistic about the future of spam and malware. A total of 61.5 percent of responding IT decision-makers are sure that e-mail as a communication medium will represent an increasing threat for companies in the next few years. Only 1.0 percent think that this threat will decrease.
Companies see an increase in the significance of social networks and communications platforms, which will make them the most dangerous distribution channel of the future for spam and malware (36.5 percent). And the respondents were also concerned about the theft of important company data through hacker attacks, phishing campaigns, or specialized malware (28.8 percent). Decision-makers also see the increase in targeted e-mail attacks 25.0 percent) as a growing threat, such as “spear phishing,” for example, in which recipients are selected and addressed personally in an effort to persuade them to release important data.
When it comes to spam, the respondents do not see any reason to relax their guard: 35.6 percent expect the spam volume to surge again. But above all, the obvious professionalization of spam campaigns makes them anxious (76.9 percent). This is leading to spam and phishing being more and more indistinguishable from legitimate e-mails, increasing the likelihood that users become the victims of electronic scams. The increase in the use of spam campaigns as an alternative means of spreading malware will be a growing problem for more than half of the German IT decision-makers in the future (51.9 percent).
Ten years of managed e-mail security “Made in Germany”
In 2001, Robert Rothe founded eleven in Berlin. Rothe is one of Germany’s Internet pioneers: he started up SNAFU, the first commercial Internet access for private parties in Germany. And eleven is also a groundbreaking company: they have provided managed e-mail security for other companies since 2002. Today, more than 45,000 companies, including international corporations and leading Internet service providers, are using solutions from eleven. The eXpurgate technology eleven developed can detect spam due to its characteristic of being sent via mass mailing. Despite the rise of new spamming techniques and clear shifts in the way spam is spread, eleven continues to deliver dependable spam detection and to rule out the false categorization of legitimate e-mails (Zero False Positives®).
“Few companies viewed spam as a serious problem in 2001, but we knew that it would be the greatest threat to e-mail communication in the future. To us, ‘Ten Years of eleven’ primarily has to do with the many companies that got their spam problem under control and kept their business e-mail communication going with our help despite the unchecked growth of spam. However, the survey has shown that our work has just begun. Protecting e-mail communication will be as important in the future as it is today,” said Robert Rothe, eleven founder and CEO.
eleven on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elevensecurity
eleven – E-mail security "Made in Germany"
eleven is a leading e-mail security provider based in Germany. Its eXpurgate technology, which is unique worldwide, offers a spam filter and e-mail categorization service that protects the user reliably from spam and phishing, detects potentially dangerous e-mail and can distinguish between individual messages and any kind of mass e-mail. eXpurgate also offers numerous virus protection options and a powerful e-mail firewall.
Over 45,000 companies of all sizes use eXpurgate to check and categorize more than a billion e-mail messages every day. Customers include Internet service providers and telecommunication carriers such as T-Online, O2, Vodafone and freenet as well as many well-known companies and public institutions, including Air Berlin, the Federal Association of German Banks, DATEV, the Free University of Berlin, Landesbank Berlin, Mazda, RTL, ThyssenKrupp and Tobit Software AG. For more information, visit our website at: http://www.eleven.de.
Company contact:
eleven GmbH
Sascha Krieger
Hardenbergplatz 2
10623 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 / 52 00 56-0
E-mail:
presse@eleven.de
http://www.eleven.de
Media contact:
consense communications gmbh
Stefanie Weigl
Nymphenburger Straße 86
80636 Munich
Phone: +49 (0)89 / 23 00 26-0
http://www.consense-communications.de