Spam Recovers, Now 94% of All E-Mail Once Again
While always-improving filters from the likes of Google and Microsoft have certainly slowed the rate at which spam invades our lives, those pesky, malicious e-mails aren't going away any time soon.
In November of 2008, spam took a hit when Internet providers severed connections with McColo Corporation, a California-based Web hosting service that many spammers were using for their spammy ways. Adam Swidler, who is the product marketing manager for Postini Services, an anti-spam company owned by search giant Google, told the New York Times: "By far, it was the most dramatic event we have ever seen." Reports had spam levels down as much as 70-percent after the incident.
Now, just months later, spam is back to making up around 94-percent of all e-mail, having increased at an estimated rate of 1.2-percent each day. "What the spammers have been using to rebuild is more technically advanced than what got taken out and is itself a more resilient technology," Mr. Swidler told the paper. "It's unlikely we are going to see another event like McColo where taking out an ISP has that kind of dramatic impact on global spam volumes."
Worst of all, a new breed of location-based spam has apparently hit the Internets. According to Postini, it directs the unsuspecting user to a page with fake news headlines and videos from his or her particular area, using the computer's IP address to identify the nearest major city. When the user clicks on a video, he gets a virus.
Be careful out there. [From: New York Times]
Related Links:
_thumbnail.jpg "Vintage Keyboards")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John said 10:47AM on 4-01-2009
You could take out Broadwing and Corenap in Austin and probably wack a good 10% off. They host plenty of spammers.
Reply
MadMike said 12:37PM on 4-01-2009
You could block *.cn & *.ru - that would probably take out 40% of all spam. How about some decent anti-spam laws in the US? Say 10 years in prison for every e-mail, 30 years if it facilitates malicious software, scams or non-fda approved medications and 0 appeals. That would stop another 30%.
Then we turn our attention to Canada. Does Canada have oil? We need oil, and we have the nukes to prove it!
Reply
Tom B said 2:35PM on 4-01-2009
The spammers are with us because they get paid for it.......
Boycott the companies imprison the ceo's and fine the hell out of them all
If you cut off the money the problem will go away
Reply