Spammers' antics are ruining brands' reputations on the web, according to a recent roundtable of leading industry experts, with healthcare suppliers' brands continuing to be hardest hit by spam peddling illicit medicinal offers

Spammers are confusing consumers by intentionally blurring the boundaries between legitimate e-mail and unsolicited communications selling counterfeit goods. This has infuriated the direct marketing industry, which is relied upon to maintain brands' on-line presence, yet finds itself tarred with the same brush as spammers.

E-security specialist Clearswift, which hosted the roundtable event, reveals in its latest spam index today that healthcare spam has risen to account for a staggering 57.6% of all spam.

Pfizer, maker of the male impotency drug Viagra, has vowed to take legal action against spammers, after recently finding that 25% of men believed Pfizer itself was responsible for sending Viagra spam.

"Pfizer has set a precedent, but we are likely to see other companies declaring war on spammers for undermining their products," said Alyn Hockey, Director of Research at Clearswift. "Suing such web sites or seizing domain names may be harsh yet necessary routes where finding long term solutions are concerned – until then we have to rely on technology, taking a multi-layered approach to content security in the fight against spam."

The roundtable panel, including Spamhaus, the Direct Marketing Association, and the DTI, agreed that while education and legislation were vital, effort to date had only minimal impact in stemming the tide and technology remained the best defence against spam.

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.