The Santa Clara, California-based intrusion prevention and security risk management company has announced in a press release the debut of an online spam quiz via its SiteAdvisor. Users are presented with the challenge to identify spam sources when facing two alternative Websites, one of which being an email junk generator. Eight such pairs are on display, McAfee stating that it has accumulated a volume of in excess of 2,697 spam emails per week from registering to just 8 malicious Websites.

"The examples in the quiz are taken from more than 6.4 million Web sites which McAfee SiteAdvisor has independently tested and rated for Web safety issues including spyware, viruses, exploits, online scams, and of course, spam. McAfee SiteAdvisor tests a Web site's e-mail practices by registering with a unique, one-time-use e-mail address. The pairs of sites used in the quiz come from common categories including free games, e-cards, online sweepstakes, credit cards, scholarships, online dating, jokes and petitions," reads the press release.

McAfee revealed that following registration with the spamming Websites, it has been bombarded with emails comprising commercial content belonging to third party products that would amount to 140,244 emails per year, spam generated from just eight sources.
"This quiz was designed to deliver two very important messages. The first is that spam remains a significant problem. A single bad decision can render an e-mail address all but unusable," said Chris Dixon, Director of Product Strategy. "The second is that on the Web today, there is almost always a safe alternative for popular activities. The extra information provided by McAfee SiteAdvisor's test results can help users make smarter click decisions."