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Daily news podcastAuthorities in the US are considering a $250,000 bounty on spammers in an attempt to close them down.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has suggested rewards of anything from $100,000 to $250,000 for information.
The organisation believes that people most likely to identify a spammer and provide evidence would be "whistleblowers" or insiders. It suggested that amateur cyber-sleuths would be unlikely to track down spammers.
But the FTC admitted that, even with high-dollar rewards, whistleblowers may be reluctant to come forward because they could end up facing legal liability themselves.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security company Sophos, said that, although a few US spammers have been convicted, these have done little to stem the tidal wave of unsolicited email.
"It is therefore unsurprising that the FTC is proposing a bounty for the heads of spammers," he said in a statement.
"If this is what is necessary to make the spammers sleep uneasily in their beds at night, it is probably the right step."
See also:
Smaller businesses want technology to help them punch above their weight in a global market where their main competitor could be on the other side of the world 22 Sep 2004
Symantec reports up to 75,000 PCs being compromised daily 20 Sep 2004
More embarrassment for Microsoft as major ISP rejects anti-spam initiative 17 Sep 2004
US Operation Web Snare may be responsible for drop in junk mail volumes 08 Sep 2004
All Hacking
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