Major Spam ISP Shut Down
The world’s junk mail folders are breathing a sigh of relief today:
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.
One has to wonder why it took them so long to locate these guys and shut them down, and whether the charges will stick. This has happened a few times before, and in those cases it only took a couple of days for spam to come back in full force.
Personally, I don’t mind seeing over 75% reduction in my Junk Mail folder, and hope it stays that way.
[quotes from The Washington Post]
