Sdaeriji
15-11-2008, 04:54
Host of Internet Spam Groups Is Cut Off
By Brian Krebs
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 12, 2008; 7:16 PM
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.
While its gleaming, state-of-the-art, 30-story office tower in downtown San Jose, Calif., hardly looks like the staging ground for what could be called a full-scale cyber crime offensive, security experts have found that a relatively small firm at that location is home to servers that serve as a gateway for a significant portion of the world's junk e-mail.
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.
But the company's web site was not accessible today, when two Internet providers cut off MoColo's connectivity to the Internet, security experts said. 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.
Spamcop.net, another spam watch dog, found a similar decline, from about 40 spam e-mails per second to around 10 per second.
continues.... (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/12/AR2008111200658.html)
It's also suspected that McColo hosted several child pornography sites.
It seems, further in the article, that the government had been investigating McColo for some time, and that criminal charges are likely. McColo seems to have been responsible for virtually all the botnets in the United States.
There is some concern, however, that shutting down a haven like McColo will only drive these operations in different directions, where they will be more difficult to track and eradicate. On the other hand, others believe that doing so will drive up these spammers costs to a point where it will no longer be worth doing what they do.
Any opinions on what the ultimate effect of this shutdown will be?
edit: I'd also like to know if anyone has noticed a decrease in the spam e-mail they've received in the past day or two.
By Brian Krebs
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 12, 2008; 7:16 PM
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.
While its gleaming, state-of-the-art, 30-story office tower in downtown San Jose, Calif., hardly looks like the staging ground for what could be called a full-scale cyber crime offensive, security experts have found that a relatively small firm at that location is home to servers that serve as a gateway for a significant portion of the world's junk e-mail.
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.
But the company's web site was not accessible today, when two Internet providers cut off MoColo's connectivity to the Internet, security experts said. 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.
Spamcop.net, another spam watch dog, found a similar decline, from about 40 spam e-mails per second to around 10 per second.
continues.... (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/12/AR2008111200658.html)
It's also suspected that McColo hosted several child pornography sites.
It seems, further in the article, that the government had been investigating McColo for some time, and that criminal charges are likely. McColo seems to have been responsible for virtually all the botnets in the United States.
There is some concern, however, that shutting down a haven like McColo will only drive these operations in different directions, where they will be more difficult to track and eradicate. On the other hand, others believe that doing so will drive up these spammers costs to a point where it will no longer be worth doing what they do.
Any opinions on what the ultimate effect of this shutdown will be?
edit: I'd also like to know if anyone has noticed a decrease in the spam e-mail they've received in the past day or two.