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After Respite, Spam Now 94% of All Email

Nov. crackdown cut junk by 70%, but mailers have recovered

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 31, 2009 12:16 PM CDT

(Newser) – Like it or not, spam has made a comeback. Unwanted junk email is back up to 94% of all traffic, according to Google’s anti-spam Postini division. Spammers suffered a setback in November, when web backbone providers banned McColo Corp., a server spammers used to coordinate attacks, the New York Times reminds. That led to a dramatic, and, alas, all-too-brief 70% dip in spam traffic.

“By far, it was the most dramatic event we have ever seen,” said Postini’s marketing manager. This year, however, spam volumes have increased at a 1.2%-per-day clip, as spammers construct peer-to-peer spamming botnets, a less-centralized, and hence less vulnerable, alternative to control hubs like McColo.

An email server shows alerts for spam.
An email server shows alerts for spam.   (Getty Images)
Most spam folders have considerably more than 17 messages in them.
Most spam folders have considerably more than 17 messages in them.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
Michael_CT
Apr 1, 2009 7:27 AM CDT
i think spammers should get the death penalty.
ClingingToHope
Mar 31, 2009 5:38 AM CDT
If dimwits would quit responding to these stupid spam messages, they would stop.

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