SpamAnti.net in March 2008

News of the SPAM world

6 botnets churn 85% of world SPAM

Only a few years ago, it was possible to identify the spammers by tracking them back to the machine where the SPAM message originated. Today, this is no longer the case. A Marshal study estimates that 85% of the world's SPAM is now sevred by one of the 6 biggest botnets.

These are hundreds of thousands of individual PC that -because of their issuficient protection and the lack of caution of their onwer- have been recruited by specialized software programs (Trojan horses, virus, et al.) which changed them into continuous and discreet SPAM-producing machines.

A huge number of bozos clicked on the links in the insane ads offering a larger sex or a larger bank account.

For memory's sake, the more powerful botnets of today are:

• Srizbi (39%)
• Rustock (20%)
• Mega-D (11%)
• Hacktool.Spammer (7%)
• Pushdo (6%)
• Storm (2%, still lagging behind despite its old age).

A spammer looses appeal

Virginia Supreme Court just rejected the appeal of a spammer (Jeremy Jaynes). In a split decision, the judges deny him the protection of the 1st Amendment of the American Constitution (defending freedom of speech).

Gmail CAPTCHA cracked

It appears that a hacker succeeded in crcking the system behind its apparent near-immunity to SPAM.

The risk: Seeing the level of SPAM rising quickly in the coming months.

Source: Download Squad.

From Russia, with SPAM

According to Sophos, while Russia has long been far behind most other big countries in terms of relaying SPAM, things are changing fast. In December 2007, Russia was ranked second in the world with 8.3% (while the US is still first with 21.3%).

China is slowing down at 4.2%.

China against SPAM

Huang Chengqing, Secretary General of the Internet Society of China (ISC) has announced in a recent press conference in Beijing that his organization intends to start fighting the spammers, understanding that they are often hired by others to do their dirty electronic job.

Source: The Inquirer and China Tech News.

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