Spam levels jump today

Spam levels have risen again today, returning to two-thirds of what they were before the McColo Corp (see Spam on the decline) takedown two weeks ago.

Spam levels have risen again today, returning to two-thirds of what they were before the McColo Corp (see Spam on the decline) takedown two weeks ago.

In the days following the takedown, spam levels declined massively by 65%. But as SmartCompany reported at the time, it was expected they would creep back to higher levels.

According to Matt Sergeant, senior anti-spam technologist at MessageLab, the lag between the initial decline and the subsequent rise is attributed to the time it took for botnet owners to find a new ISP and bandwidth provider.

“The Asprox and Rustock botnets are back with a vengeance after having found new command and control,” Sergeant says. “Cutwail never went away and it seems its owners have used the opportunity to increase output. Mega-D is also on the rise again. Srizbi, having once been responsible for 50% of all spam, is now completely defunct. Without this botnet, spam levels won’t return to what they had been.”

As always, businesses and consumers are urged to make sure their spam filters and anti-virus engines are up to date.