Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cybersecurity
    • Networking

    Google Says Spammers Rallying from McColo Shutdown

    By
    Brian Prince
    -
    March 31, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Spammers are officially back in full force five months after the shutdown of Web hosting company McColo.

      According to Google, spammers have fully recovered from the death of the notorious Web hosting firm. By the second half of this March, the seven-day spam volume was the same as before McColo shutdown. Symantec’s MessageLabs said spammers actually got their groove back in February, and noted in its quarterly intelligence report that one in every 1.32 e-mails is spam.

      Either way, it seems botnet operators may have wised up since November and changed tactics.

      “It’s difficult to ascertain exactly how spammers have rebuilt in the wake of McColo, but data suggests they’re adopting new strategies to avoid a McColo-type takedown from occurring again,” blogged Amanda Kleha of the Google security and archiving team. “Specifically, the recent upward trajectory of spam could indicate that spammers are building botnets that are more robust but send less volume-or at least that they haven’t enabled their botnets to run at full capacity because they’re wary of exposing a new ISP as a target.”

      According to Google, overall spam volume jumped an average of 1.2 percent per day during the first quarter of 2009, and increasingly spammers are adding geolocation capabilities into the mix. Waledac has been no small part of this, as the botnet blasted out e-mails earlier in March that falsely claimed the recipient’s city or area was victimized by a terrorist attack. In that case, the e-mails provided a link to a fake Reuters news site with malware. The attack customized the location by determining the geolocation of the IP address of the victim’s machine.

      “Location-based spam is the latest technique being used by ‘bad guys’ to increase the likelihood that an unsuspecting victim will not only read their message, but will actually click one of the links in the message,” explained Tal Golan, president and CTO of e-mail security company Sendio. “This new methodology is the next salvo in the spam arms race, but is really just an extension of the ‘social engineering’ threat vector that has become so popular and effective in the last three years.”

      Officials at Webroot said while true location targeting is difficult to do well, it has shown itself to be an effective method of attack.

      “What we are dealing with here is a blended threat combining the use of Web and e-mail to carry out a sophisticated attack,” said Gerhard Eschelbeck, CTO of Webroot Software. “The concept of customizing relevance is quite familiar from the ‘spear phishing’ attacks from recent years, and has proven an effective method to increase success rates of attacks.”

      Brian Prince

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×