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Online security experts are this week saying that Spam levels around the world have plummeted after Internet service providers (ISPs) Global Crossing and Hurricane Electric officially moved to pull the plug on controversial U.S. Web host company McColo.
Spam levels plunge following closure of McColo Web host. Image: Squeaky Marmot/Flickr.
The decision to yank the operational rug out from beneath McColo came about following the completion of a four-month investigation conducted by The Washington Post, which reported that the Web host’s business base was spread across a stream of criminal online activity.
According to the publication’s findings, McColo’s customers included “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 e-mail.”
As a result of the removal of McColo’s ISP platform, which many believe was one of the Net’s major contributing conduits for Spam delivery, security firms such as Sophos claim they witnessed a massive drop of up to 75 percent in global Spam levels.
Specifically, Australian security firm MessageLabs told the Sydney Morning Herald that Spam volume plunged to a level “eight times less than typical” during the 12-hour period immediately following McColo’s removal.
However, while levels are likely to remain low for a short period of time, security sources expect Spam density to return to its previous level in just a few of days as the suddenly dispersed spammers locate and secure new ISP destinations.
“The shutdown has removed pieces of infrastructure critical for the operation of several spammers, but this does not mean they cannot adapt,” explained Adam O’Donnell, director of emerging technologies at Cloudmark, before going on to say the affected spammers would likely regroup through service providers “somewhere in Eastern Europe.”
U.S. lawmakers have yet to comment on whether further action will be taken against McColo given that its position as a Web host potentially separates it from criminal charges related to the harmful dispatch of Spam mail.
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