In The Blogs

Spam

| Thu Nov. 13, 2008 1:56 PM PST

SPAM....Wow. One spam host got taken offline Tuesday and the worldwide volume of spam dropped by two-thirds:

The volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide dropped drastically today after a Web hosting firm identified by the computer security community as a major host of organizations allegedy engaged in spam activity was taken offline, according to security firms that monitor spam distribution online.

....The servers are operated by McColo Corp., which these experts say has emerged as a major U.S. hosting service for international firms and syndicates that are involved in everything from the remote management of millions of compromised computers to the sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and designer goods, fake security products and child pornography via email....Immediately after McColo was unplugged, security companies charted a precipitous drop in spam volumes worldwide. E-mail security firm IronPort said spam levels fell by roughly 66 percent as of Tuesday evening.

I suppose the spam purveyors of the world will find another host before long, but still. One server farm was responsible for more than half the spam traffic in the entire world? Wow again.

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Comments

Submitted by Ross Best (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 2:01 PM PST.

Maybe this dislocation explains why I am suddenly getting Russian and Chinese spam at an address that was previously almost entirely Anglospam.

Submitted by MR Bill (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 2:51 PM PST.

It's still a small world.
A similar story that seemed to just disappear was the one about a few speculators dominating the oil market:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/20/AR200808...

Submitted by Spirit (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 3:00 PM PST.

Is this where we all gather 'round and sing the "Spam" song?

Submitted by Sojourner (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 3:16 PM PST.

The one server was not responsible for half the traffic, it was the source for control over botnets around the world. It sends the message a few times, the bots send it a million more.

Submitted by Andy Rooney (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 4:24 PM PST.

Anecdotal evidence: I usually wake up to 25-30 pieces of spam in my Gmail spam folder. For the last couple of days, that count has been in the low single digits.

Submitted by stefan (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 4:33 PM PST.

I was highly skeptical when I saw this item on Tuesday, but my spam rate in my gmail spam folder is down about 50% since then. But it looks like it may be picking up speed today. I assume we'll be back to normal by next week.

Submitted by Robert Earle (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 4:37 PM PST.

Mama always said, if you're going to do something, do it well.

Submitted by thersites (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 5:24 PM PST.

But what about all those lovely Russian girls that want to meet me? How will they find me now?

Submitted by Urk (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 6:54 PM PST.

you know, if the internet had a sense of humor, the comments here would suddenly fill up with that super big obnoxious chinese porn spam that infected the comments on Kevin's Washington Monthly blog awhile back.

Submitted by thersites (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 7:11 PM PST.

Oh, crap! All that Chinese stuff was porn, and I missed it? Why didn't someone tell me?

The lesson? Always Click the Link.

Submitted by Jassalasca Jape (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 7:14 PM PST.

"host" != "hosting service"

Submitted by skippy (not verified) on Thu Nov. 13, 2008 9:39 PM PST.

also, the gop lost the election big time, drastically reducing the amount of crap circulating the world.

Submitted by kenga (not verified) on Fri Nov. 14, 2008 5:21 AM PST.

I've noticed an uptick, though, in crap circulating within some locales in the US.

From where I sit, there's been a substantial drop-off - between 70 and 90%. For some time it's been about 50% of the email we get at work. Way down yesterday and today.
But, as stefan noted, we'll probably be back to normal within a week.
Please keep your computer updated.

Submitted by otmar (not verified) on Fri Nov. 14, 2008 5:23 AM PST.

The real question IMHO is: why was this just takedown triggered by journalistic work instead one of law-enforcement?

All the bad guys just will move to the next hoster, probably somewhere in China or the Ukraine and everything will be like before.

So why wasn't there a sting by the feds in order to nail the fraudsters behind all this spam / fake pharma sites?

Submitted by s9 (not verified) on Fri Nov. 14, 2008 9:42 AM PST.

"So why wasn't there a sting by the feds in order to nail the fraudsters behind all this spam / fake pharma sites?"

IOKIYA... GOP Operative/Contributor.

Submitted by CJ_n_PA (not verified) on Fri Nov. 14, 2008 11:14 AM PST.

OK, am I the only one thinking about this? I always thought that big spam was TOO BIG TO FAIL. How could I have been so wrong? When will the spam bailout be proposed?

Submitted by Steve (not verified) on Fri Nov. 14, 2008 1:16 PM PST.

So much for network neutrality.

Submitted by Sock Puppet of the Great Satan (not verified) on Fri Nov. 14, 2008 2:17 PM PST.

"OK, am I the only one thinking about this? I always thought that big spam was TOO BIG TO FAIL."

Perhaps sending adverts for pharma products to enhance male performance might help cheer up McColo's executive team. I'm sure the stress is cutting into their love life, and that they'd appreciate the help. Anyone got their email addresses handy?

Submitted by mari (not verified) on Mon Nov. 17, 2008 9:14 AM PST.

Spam in my mail is still down. 20 in the last three days. That is the lowest since I last changed my email address a couple of years ago. Checked my Yahoo address too. 47 vs the usual 400+

Hope this lasts.

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