"At best, spam is annoying; at worst, it's objectionable and a real threat to productivity and resources," said Steve Cullen, senior vice president, Consumer and Client Product Delivery at Symantec. "As consumers face a steady increase in spam e-mails every day, it is clear that unsolicited email is a problem that must be addressed if users are to continue to enjoy the benefits of online computing."

The survey, says Symantec, measured consumers? experience with spam as well as their general and specific concerns about receiving unsolicited e-mail. 37 percent of respondents receive more than 100 spam emails each week at home and at work, with 63 percent receiving more than 50.

69 percent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that spam is harmful to email users. Another 77 percent said they are concerned or very concerned about their children reading spam. More than half also indicated that they spend more than 10 minutes each day dealing with spam. Respondents also indicated that the volume of spam they are receiving is on the rise.

In order to address consumers? concerns abut spam, Symantec says it offers its integrated online security and privacy suite, Norton Internet Security 2003. The product includes Norton Spam Alert, which filters incoming junk mail from Microsoft Outlook Express, Eudora, Netscape Messenger and other POP3 email clients.