IBM has said that 94 per cent of web browser vulnerabilities are exploited within 24 hours of being detected, according to a report.

Furthermore, its X-Force trend report found around 90 per cent of spam is now simple but difficult to detect URL spam, PC Advisor says.

Russia was found to be the source of 11 per cent of global spam, followed by Turkey with a figure of eight per cent and the US at just over seven per cent.

X-Force operations manager Kris Lamb commented: "Without a unified process for disclosing vulnerabilities, the research industry runs the risk of actually fuelling online criminal activity."

He added that X-Force had good reason not to publish exploit code for the vulnerabilities it had uncovered.

Meanwhile, a report from IT security firm Sophos has suggested that spam made up a greater proportion of all business email last month than at any time this year.

Its research suggested only one in every 28 emails arriving at corporate inboxes was a legitimate email.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent)