Spam accounted for 77% of all e-mail traffic in 2004 and virtually all unsolicited e-mails transmitted failed to comply with the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act, according to MX Logic Inc., a Denver based e-mail security and tracking firm.

MX Logic measures random samples of 10,000 e-mails monthly to measure CAN-SPAM compliance since the law was enacted in January 2004. The highest monthly average measured compliance rate for 2004 was 7% in December, based on MX Logic's figures. The lowest compliance rate was .54% in July.

The firm estimates that as much as 69% of daily spam originates from zombie computers, which are computers hijacked by spammers that are linked to networks without the knowledge of the computer owners.

Ending the increasing spam epidemic will require a long-term effort that includes industry cooperation to improve e-mail authentication and security protocols, said Scott Chasin, CTO at MX Logic.