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The increasing volume of spam isn't the only problem plaguing computer users, as varied threats make clicking the most innocent appearing link a potential attack vector. Bill Gates may have making money and using it philanthropically down to a science, but the planet's alpha geek missed his prediction on eliminating spam even more than the Steeler's Anthony Smith missed his prediction about beating the Patriots on Sunday.

Gates famously suggested in 2004 that spam would cease to be a problem in two years. He underestimated the profit potential and the persistent gullibility of computer users when it comes to spam.

Computer security firm Symantec released its State of Spam Report, detailing their observations about spam in November 2007. They painted a bleak picture.

72 percent of all email consisted of spam in November, in Symantec's analysis. The resurgence goes beyond what Symantec expected to see, as spammers added several new tactics to their junk arsenal.

MP3 files and videos became part of the spamming world this year, as spammers moved beyond text and images. A scarier approach, exploiting Google advanced search, allowed spammers to present a legitimate link to Google, which in turn brought up the spammer's site as the sole search result.

The broader problem of spam comes with the lack of trust people will have for legitimate email, especially that from marketers. Those firms who do email marketing as part of their business tend to get tarred with the spam brush, no matter how undeserved it may be.

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