Spam Levels Up Again

2009-01-30 17:58:10 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - News, Technology)

Spammers are shown to be back in effect post McColo network bust.

Wired PR News.com – Spam levels are shown to have significantly increased despite a previous 70 percent decline that followed the bust of the McColo network in 2008. McColo was shut down last November after the discovery of a large amount of malware and email spam being trafficked from their servers. As reported by Newsfactor.com, Postini Message Security has said that spam levels have risen by 150 percent.

Amanda Kleha of Google’s management security team is quoted in the NewsFactor report as stating, “As spammers fill the void left by McColo, it’s reasonable to anticipate a decreasing rate of growth as spam reaches November 2008 levels… However, since the November levels weren’t even the peak for the year, and since spammers appear to be quickly recovering, the question remains: Where will spam volume top out in 2009? Will it be near the November 2008 level? The April 2008 level? Or higher?”

Kleha is further quoted as stating, “Of course, the only thing we can really say with certainty about 2009 is that spam and viruses will continue to be unpredictable… And given that uncertainty, virus-detection and blocking technologies become even more important.”

Dermot Harnett of Symantec is quoted as remarking in regards to the increase, “As the spam volume has returned, it is important to remember that spam is becoming increasingly complex… Spammers continue to innovate to find new spam vectors to deliver their messages, both attempting to evade antispam filters and by making the spam messages look more legitimate.”

Photo Credit: Fubar Obfusco & Admrboltz