The sheer frustration that spam causes combined with number of lost man hours adds up to junk email being a very real problem for all involved. You have to filter through all junk to find your own personal or work email. This on its own is annoying enough. When you consider security risks from spyware, trojans, diallers and attempted identity theft spam becomes much more than just an annoyance - it becomes a minefield for any computer user.

So what can you do to block spam? The first step each user should take is to simply limit number of people who know your personal email address. If you have a work email address then just use it for work. For home users only distribute your email address to people you know and trust. This simple move can cut your spam problems by 50%.

But what about all those online forms I need to fill in? No problem. Use a free email service like Hotmail or Gmail for this purpose. Treat it as a throwaway account that you can use as a buffer between your true personal email address and rest of world. Let it fill up with junk email and then just login once a week and delete everything you see.

With net closing in around them spammers are looking for new and more inventive ways to send out their junk email. Spam filters and challenge response systems are becoming progressively more intelligent and blocking more spam each day. What was a spammer to do? The spammers took next step - infiltrating your PC and using it as a spamming tool.

When most of you think of word zombie you're reminded of old B movies with groaning zombies chasing terrified actress through a castle, swamp or whatever low cost setting movie revolved around. Spam zombies are, however, far more real and far more dangerous.