Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Spam and Phishing

Here is a quick, fun quiz to test your knowledge of spam and phishing.

1. The first known spam email was sent in what year?
   1. 1972
   2. 1978
   3. 1985
   4. 1995
2. In April 2019, what percentage of all email was spam?
   1. 70%
   2. 75%
   3. 80%
   4. 85%
3. The first known use of the term phishing occurred in what year?
   1. 1996
   2. 2001
   3. 2006
   4. 2011
4. How many fake emails are sent around the world every day?
   1. 870 million
   2. 1.3 billion
   3. 3.4 billion
   4. 10.1 billion
5. As of June 25, 2019, the biggest spammer in the world is from what country?
   1. United States
   2. Ukraine
   3. India
   4. China
6. Do spammers receive one reply out of how many emails sent?
   1. 1,500,000
   2. 6,000,000
   3. 9,000,000
   4. 12,500,000
7. Which brand is most frequently used in phishing attacks?
   1. Microsoft
   2. Facebook
   3. PayPal
   4. Netflix
8. Which of the following is NOT a practical way to stop/reduce spam?
   1. Use a spam filter
   2. Don’t publish your email address
   3. Unsubscribe to unwanted messages
   4. Delete your email account
9. Which of the following is NOT a phishing technique?
   1. Whaling
   2. Harpooning
   3. Spear phishing
   4. Pharming
10. The most affordable spam filtering and phishing protection available is from what company?
    1. DuoCircle
    2. DuoCircle
    3. DuoCircle
    4. DuoCircle

For enterprise-grade spam filtering and phishing protection at small business prices, check our email security services. Protecting over 25,000 businesses worldwide.

Answers

1. B, the first known email spam was sent on May 1, 1978 to several hundred users on ARPANET. It was an advertisement for a presentation by Digital Equipment Corporation. The reaction was almost universally negative.
2. D, according to Talos Intelligence.
3. A, according to Internet records, the first time that the term “phishing” was used and recorded was on January 2, 1996. The mention occurred in a Usenet newsgroup called AOHell.
4. C, at least 3.4 billion fake emails are sent around the world every day with the vast majority of suspicious emails emanating from U.S.-based sources.
5. B, according to Spamhaus.
6. D, for every 12.5 million spam emails sent out, only one person responds.
7. A, according to Statista.
8. D, technically deleting your email account will stop spam, but it defeats the purpose
9. B
10. A, B, C, D