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Commtouch Reports July Global Spam Trends: Spammers Utilizing 'Slippery' Techniques

-- 88.42% Of Spam Came from New Origins
-- 98.17% of URLs in Spam Messages Are New
-- Steep Reduction in the Number of Spammer Websites Hosted in China

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 3, 2004--Commtouch Software Ltd. (Nasdaq:CTCHC) Commtouch(R) (Nasdaq:CTCHC), the innovator of anti-spam solutions featuring Recurrent Pattern Detection (RPD) (TM) technology, announced today that the Commtouch Spam Detection Center analyzed hundreds of millions of spam messages in the month of July 2004 and found that 88.42% were of new origin and 98.17% of the URLs advertised in spam messages were new compared to the previous month. Those numbers indicate that 88.42% of the IP addresses used to send spam messages were new in the month of July.
"The fact that 98.17% of URLs which appear in spam messages are new indicates that spammers can easily change the content of an email message and URL despite the associated cost of registering a new domain. A new, active URL requires domain registration," said Avner Amram, executive vice president at Commtouch. "The fact that spammers are changing the content of email messages means that a content filtering anti-spam solution -- like Bayesian, heuristic or URL filtering solutions, which use static rules or manual learning mechanisms -- are reactive and will fail over time to handle the problem effectively. Only a proactive, hands-free solution which analyzes in real-time the email patterns of Internet email traffic can produce the type of spam blocking results needed to most efficiently deal with the spam problem."

Amram added, "Spammers are slippery -- when you look for them in one place they are already spamming from another, and when you are blocking one spammer's URL, it is already using another one. Commtouch RPD technology is the only technology that blocks spam minutes from the beginning of an outbreak by analyzing in real-time the recurring patterns of an email message, as opposed to the content, and therefore we are able to stay at least one step ahead of spammers."

Total Number of Countries from Which Spam Originated Increases In July

In the month of July, Commtouch detected that spam was sent from 171 countries, as compared to 167 countries during June. The United States continues to lead as the main origin of spam, but it dropped to 45.84% of global spam, compared to 55.69% in the previous month. Mexico has now joined the top 10 list of countries from which spam originates, replacing the United Kingdom.

The number of spammer websites hosted in China dropped to 29.97% -- a steep decline from 73.58% during the previous month. Now, the top five countries find themselves host to over 99% of spammer websites. Colombia and Hong Kong are new in the top 10 list, replacing Japan and the Netherlands.

The volume of spam email originated primarily from the following countries:


1. United States 45.84%

2. South Korea 13.51%

3. China 9.21%

4. Brazil 3.8%

5. Hong Kong 3.26%

6. Canada 3.25%

7. Japan 2.83%

8. Spain 1.80%

9. Mexico 1.57%

10. France 1.31%

Of the 48 countries worldwide in which spammer advertised websites
are hosted, the following constitute the top 10:

1. China 29.86%

2. South Korea 29.58%

3. Brazil 19.82%

4. United States 16.14%

5. Hong Kong 3.66%

6. Colombia 0.45%

7. Canada 0.14%

8. Russian Federation 0.08%

9. Australia 0.02%

10. Argentina 0.09%

Commtouch also detected that in the month of July 2004, 9.3% of spam messages were CAN-SPAM compliant, meaning that: the email message has a functioning return email address; a postal address is included in the sent email message; within the email message there is an ability for a recipient to 'unsubscribe'; the subject line of the email is not deceptive; and there is clear and conspicuous identification that the email message is an advertisement or solicitation.

Note to editors: For additional information or commentary regarding July global spam trends -- such as data on products promoted in spam email during July, a full list of spam origin countries or spammer advertised websites, please contact krems@kremspr.com.

About Commtouch

Commtouch Software Ltd. is a global developer and provider of proprietary anti-spam solutions featuring Recurrent Pattern Detection (RPD) (TM) technology. Its mission is to protect and preserve the integrity of the world's most important communications tool -- email. The company's core technologies reflect its 13 years of experience as a leading vendor of email software applications and provider of global messaging services. Commtouch's patent-pending technologies are employed in solutions that are sold through channels and resellers. In addition, Commtouch anti-spam technologies are incorporated in software applications of security and messaging OEMs. Commtouch is headquartered in Netanya, Israel and its subsidiary, Commtouch Inc., is based in Mountain View, CA. The company was founded in 1991 and has been publicly traded since 1999 (Nasdaq:CTCHC - News). To learn more about Commtouch visit www.commtouch.com. IDC recently wrote about RPD as a unique and potent approach to fighting spam in the firm's white paper titled, "Choosing the Best Technology to Fight Spam." (http://www.commtouch.com/documents/040429_IDC_Choosing%20_the%_Best %20_AS_Technology.pdf (Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field.)

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including projections about our business, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. For example, statements in the future tense, and statements including words such as "expect", "plan", "estimate", anticipate", or "believe" are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on information available to us at the time of the release; we assume no obligation to update any of them. The statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations as a result of numerous factors, including the non-occurrence of any of the company's prospective future events, the threat of or actual delisting of Commtouch shares by The Nasdaq SmallCap Market, business conditions and growth or deterioration in the Internet market, commerce and the general economy both domestic as well as international; fewer than expected new-partner relationships; competitive factors including pricing pressures; technological developments, and products offered by competitors; availability of qualified staff for expansion; and technological difficulties and resource constraints encountered in developing new products as well as those risks described in the company's Annual Reports on Form 20-F and reports on Form 6-K, which are available through www.sec.gov.

Contacts


Krems Public Relations for Commtouch
Michael Krems, 800-860-6008 or 650-759-7133
krems@kremspr.com

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