Things we know are true:

* Spam now accounts for between 60% and 90% of all email.

* Spamming is popular because it’s easy and very, very cheap.

* In the near future, more and more of us will use Voice over IP (ie, internet telephony) for our phone calls.

* Spamming people’s VoIP systems is likely to be easy and very, very cheap.

* Telephone and text message spam already exists, and is really bloody annoying.

* VoIP spam is likely to be cheaper to carry out than current forms of telephone spamming.

Therefore:

* We’re doomed.

According to Engadget, a new organisation called the VOIP Security Alliance believes that Spit – Spam over Internet Telephony – is a real threat. The article notes:

Since you use an IP address to route VoIP calls instead of (or in addition to) a regular phone number, there’s no technical reason why a voice spammer couldn’t barrage you with pre-recorded messages at virtually no cost to them, just like they do with regular spam. A company called Qovia has already created VoIP spamming software to prove it could be done.

And as we all know: when it comes to spamming, if it can be done, it will be done. Hurrah for technology.