No, this is not a story about a new Asian inspired canned meat product. This is referring to the type of spam that jams your inbox so full, you fear someday your hard drive will simply explode due to the sheer volume. The United States has long been the leader in the number of internet users and spam producing computers. However, recent reports made by McAfee Security Company have indicated that China is quickly gaining on the U.S. in this area and will soon overtake the top spot.

January of 2009 proved to be a huge month for spam distribution. In addition to the staggering amount of U.S. generated spam, there was also a swell of spam generated by Chinese zombie computers. Researchers have noted that a large pharmaceutical spam promotion began in China that month.

A computer system which is set up to automatically distribute mass amounts of spam emails is called a botnet. Many times these systems are controlled remotely. In MessageLabs’ 2008 Annual Security Report, it states that China is one of the five largest botnet owning countries in the world.

A fraudulent e-mail regarding Barack Obama was generated from a great number of computers located in China. The bogus e-mail implied that Barack Obama was refusing the presidency. Readers were then invited to visit a malicious website which would attempt to download dangerous software to their computer.

Because of this recent rise in spam occurrences, McAfee is recommending to all internet users to ensure that their anti-spam and protective software is current and functioning efficiently. By being proactive in your defensive measures, you can cease a malevolent attack on your system before it can do any real damage.

Remember to always use caution when opening e-mail from unfamiliar sources. Be wary of messages which direct you to another site. The majority of spam is harmless advertisements, but be aware that there may be dangers hidden within their promises of lower interest rates and reduction of belly fat. A good spam filters can be a great way of helping you remove the risk of harmful Chinese spam.