Spam is not only irritating, but it also costs the organizations a lot of money. According to a new report by Commtouch-Osterman, 68 percent of service providers say outbound spam costs them up to $100,000 per year.

 

Even earlier, many companies have reported that companies will be on the receiving end because of spam troubles in their organizations. Apart from lost productivity and money, it also harms the reputation of the company in many cases.

 

The Commtouch (News - Alert)-Osterman study surveyed ISPs, hosting providers, managed service providers and Internet portals around the world to provide the first ever comprehensive report on how outgoing messaging abuse affects service providers. When spammers send unsolicited email from the service provider’s networks, it leads to customer loss, operational cost increases, brand damage and even potential lawsuits, stated the report.

 

“The results of our research pinpoint a growing challenge in the industry that service providers need to protect against spammers who aim to abuse their networks,” said Michael Osterman, president and founder of Osterman Research. ”Outbound spam is a rising concern, and it is essential that service providers deal with the issue in order to protect their businesses.”

 

According to the report, $100,000 per year is lost because of outbound spam costs. 4 percent said it is costing them more than $250,000 per year. In the past 12 months alone, almost 40 percent of respondents have had their IP addresses listed on Real Time Blackhole Lists (RBLs). Also, nearly 70 percent of service providers are in the process of evaluating solutions for their outbound spam problem, states the report.

 

Recently, the company partnered  with Converge and reported a steady increase in efforts by medium-size and large enterprises to securely manage millions of tons of discarded computer hardware. Across the board, U.S. companies, according the 2010 Converge ITAD Trends Report, are thoroughly aware of the need for proper IT asset disposition, although strategies for dealing with this important issue vary, the report stated.