After reading a recent report about SPAM I got to thinking about our SPAM stats. Very interesting.

What is amazing is how many times the 80/20 rule comes up. Today it once again shows up in our anti-SPAM stats.

First, at least 80% of all mail is confirmed SPAM.

Second, 80% of the SPAM that we toss via our SPAM filters is accomplished by 20% of the rules. That means that most SPAM follows predictable patterns (ie. what is being said, where it is coming from, types of links, etc.). However, it is that last 20% that causes us and our customers the most difficulty.

With the shear volume of email today, even 20% of the SPAM getting through is completely unacceptable. So, we spend enormous amounts of time and money (80% of our SPAM fighting resources) trying to perfect the filtering system to knock out that last 20%.  Other resources help pass us along data to help eliminate this.

Unfortunately, I wish I could say that we were 100% successful. That being said we are allowing no more than 3-5% of email that is actually SPAM past our filters.