[ISN] Host of Internet Spam Groups is Cut Off

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:22:41 -0600 (CST)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/12/AR2008111200658.html

By Brian Krebs
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
November 12, 2008

The volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide dropped drastically today after 
a Web hosting firm identified by the computer security community as a 
major host of organizations allegedy engaged in spam activity was taken 
offline, according to security firms that monitor spam distribution 
online.

While its gleaming, state-of-the-art, 30-story office tower in downtown 
San Jose, Calif., hardly looks like the staging ground for what could be 
called a full-scale cyber crime offensive, security experts have found 
that a relatively small firm at that location is home to servers that 
serve as a gateway for a significant portion of the world's junk e-mail.

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.

[...]


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Received on Thu Nov 13 2008 - 02:22:41 PST

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