From: InfoSec News (alertsinfosecnews.org)
Date: Thu Nov 13 2008 - 04:22:41 CST

• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

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.

[...]

______________________________________________
Visit the InfoSec News Security Bookstore
Best Selling Security Books and More!
http://www.shopinfosecnews.org

• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]