Spam 'wastes up to 10pc of working day'

People spend up to 10 per cent of every working day dealing with junk e-mails, known as spam, including those originating from within their own company, a survey reveals today.

When the e-mail security company MessageLabs queried 160 computer managers they found one in seven e-mails was unwanted and that three-quarters of the managers expect the problem to worsen. The e-mails include pyramid marketing schemes and pornography.

The European Parliament voted in May to ban the sending of unsolicited commercial e-mail unless people had opted in to a list for it. But critics pointed out that 90 per cent is untraceable, or is sent from outside the EU, such as from China.