E-mail Spam Levels Up For Some, Down For Others

[engine]

E-mail Spam Levels Up For Some, [computerworld.com]Down For Others

Two weeks after a hosting firm's shutdown sent global spam volumes plummeting, some researchers continue to claim that junk mail rates remain dramatically down, while others say spam has already bounced back.

The shutdown of California-based McColo Corp., a company that hosted a staggering variety of cybercriminal activity, on Nov. 11 cut spam by as much as 75% in the first few days after its upstream Internet providers pulled the plug. The shutdown slashed spam volumes because some of the planet's biggest spam-sending botnets were controlled from servers hosted by McColo, according to security researchers who had long urged the company's disconnection from the Web.

While spam initially slid off a digital cliff, two weeks later it's unclear whether spammers have resumed their usual practices.

Earlier story
[webmasterworld.com...]

[Quadrille]

My spam is still waaaaay down - less than 25% of what is was before the 'shutdown', though it's up a little compared to the first couple of days after.

But what I find fascinating is that all types of spam seem to be affected; fewer drugs, fewer 419 scams, fewer phishes, even fewer 'link exchanges'!.

But I haven't seen a Vietnamese or Russian spam in weeks - for some reason, I used to get a fair few of them.