''Dirty dozen'' spam list became the best easy-money business

&to=http://english.pravda.ru/society/2003/03/05/44034.html' target=_blank>Spammers are motivated by one thing - fast and easy money.

"Many home users' computers are sending out spam because they have had their broadband Internet connections exploited by remote hackers. Zombie computers - PCs that have been compromised by &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/366/14396_nkorea.html' target=_blank>hackers or virus writers - are sending out over 40% of the world's spam, usually to the complete ignorance of the PC's owner," said Graham Cluley senior technology consultant for Sophos.

"Many spammers have taken their money-making schemes to the extreme by hacking into innocent third-party computers in an effort to do their dirty work," suggested Cluley.

Over 42 percent of all spam mails sent this year around the world came from the US.