Businesses struggling with fatty spam

Spam messages are becoming both larger and more plentiful.

The average spam email has swelled to 4.5 times the size it was 12 months ago thanks to the proliferation of large attachments such as images and documents.

All about security

Find out everything you've ever wanted to know about security in our A to Z article.

At the same time 150 per cent more junk emails are circulating on the internet compared to last year, according to online security company Postini.

All those bulky messages can add up to storage headaches for businesses. Bob Tarzey, service director from Quocirca, said companies feel obliged to store emails whether they're spam or not - and this takes up more and more disk space.

Tarzey said despite the cost of storage and the hassle of managing so many emails, companies should store every message to be on the safe side and keep ahead of any legal issues or new regulations which may arise.