Global S.P.A.M. experiment

McAfee announced the launch of its global S.P.A.M. (Spammed Persistently All Month) Experiment. For the month of April, participants from around the world – ranging from homemakers, government executives, and students to retirees – will surf the Web, make online purchases and register for promotions. Participants have been provided with a clean laptop without spam protection and a new email address.

With a proven link between spam and cybercrime, the experiment aims to show the devastating effects of spam.

Cybercriminals use spam to take control of millions of compromised computers around the world. Spam emails entice individuals at work and at home to handover sensitive information — and even cash — to criminals.

S.P.A.M. Experiment participants are from ten countries spanning the globe, including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

To track the daily progress of the S.P.A.M. Experiment and read reports from the participants go here.