Indiana's a top spam target: Hoosiers rank #7 for unsolicited commercial email.

• Author: Hromadka, Erik
• Position: AROUND INDIANA

INDIANA EMAIL BOXES are among the top 10 destinations for spam, according to a recent report from MessageLabs, a British-based Internet security company that scans some three billion email connections per day

The Hoosier state ranked #7 for "unsolicited commercial email" with 87.6 percent of all messages falling into that category While neighboring Illinois ranked #1 in the study, the problem of junk emails cluttering computers is a widespread problem across the entire country and MessageLabs estimates that more than 80 percent of all emails are considered spam.

Why it's called spam

Use of the term "spam" to refer to unwanted email has been traced to a 1970 Monty Python skit in which the British comedy featured a couple trying to order breakfast at a restaurant that includes the Hormel Foods SPAM meat product in every dish. During the skit (available on YouTube), the word is mentioned repeatedly and a group of Vikings break out into a chorus of "spam, spam, spam ..." nearly drowning out all other conversation.

It's easy to find out what's in the more than six billion cans of that pork product that have been sold worldwide since SPAM was invented by Jay Hormel in 1937. "SPAM[R] Classic is made of just a few simple ingredients. Ham, pork, sugar, salt, water, a little potato starch, and a mere hint of sodium nitrite to help SPAM[R] keep its color," explains the company's web site, which notes that the company distinguishes its trademark by using all capital letters.

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However, it's harder to define the slang term of "spam" email, which includes billions of messages touting cheap drugs, hot stocks and unclaimed fortunes in foreign lands. While those are commercial messages sent in bulk, many people also lump other unwanted emails into the spam category. For example, daily jokes from an old friend who still forwards such messages some 10 years after first figuring out email ... or large attachments such as music or video clips from others who just figured out how to send those and clog up the Inbox.

"The varying spare levels across states can be attributed to different socioeconomic factors and levels of security awareness in each state," says Matt Sergeant, Senior Anti-Spam Technologist at MessageLabs. "The states that are experiencing higher spam levels may not place as high a priority on IT security overall or employees and businesses may be more willing to share their personal contact information in public domains. When...