We like to think that most spam email is speculative. That there is some chancer out there thinking up random addresses based on domain names and simply trying their luck, but this couldn't be further from the truth.

The facts suggest we are our inboxes own worst enemy and regularly provide malicious individuals and organisations exactly what they need to bombard us with cyber junk mail.

Symantec, the US-based cyber security specialists, annually release a global threat report detailing statistics and trends. While its latest update indicates that spam volume is dropping every year, it also shows that the criminals are using smarter techniques and have a greater success rate at luring victims while making it harder for authorities to track.

So what is spam and what can you do to prevent yourself becoming another statistic? Unsolicited email was once used as an advertising tool by the darker side of the internet to sell less than reputable products such as illegal drugs.

More recently is has become a platform for gaining control of computers by embedding links that when clicked, execute sophisticated code that silently infects your gadgets.

Spammers harvest addresses in many ways, but the most effective is by pretending to be a legitimate website offering credible services such as currency conversion, genealogy data or voucher codes. Once you sign-up, any personal information gathered is sold on to hackers or other third parties.

You can greatly diminish the chances of becoming a victim of cybercrime by reducing your online footprint. Don't easily give away personal information including your home or business email address. Instead use free online service email accounts such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail as a sign-up mailbox. This way you will know everything contained there shouldn't be trusted.

As most spam is sent from unrecognised senders, it's easier to identify them but that's not to say a friend's email couldn't have been compromised and sending spam to everyone in their address book.

Vigilance to subject headings is key as it's highly unlikely a family member will be sending you pictures of nude celebrities or colleagues providing erectile dysfunction remedies.

Spam filters do a great job of minimising contact with spammers, so ensure you are familiar with their features and, if not, contact your technical support for assistance as this is often the frontline in prevention.