A survey of awareness, knowledge and perception of online spam

Online spam does not only create nuisance for the Internet users, they could also lead to further and bigger problems such as hacking, phishing, etc. It is well known that online spam are currently handled using detection and prevention methods. Despite the effectiveness of these methods in reducing the proliferation of online spam, it is also known that spammers will continue to find ways to promote spam. They deceive users who may lack awareness and knowledge about this crime. Therefore, it is important to investigate Internet users´ awareness of online spam, how much knowledge they actually have about online spam, and their perception of online spam. This paper provides a descriptive analysis of public awareness, knowledge and perception drawn out from a web based survey involving 368 Internet users. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such survey that has ever been conducted to highlight these issues.