Who’s Behind the World’s Largest Spam Botnet?
Summary: Leaked chats and affiliate databases link a spammer nicknamed GeRa to Grum, described as the world's most active spam botnet, capable of sending more than 18 billion emails a day and carrying over a third of all junk email. Over three years, GeRa's SpamIt advertisements and referrals produced at least 80,000 sales of knockoff pharmaceuticals, more than $6 million in SpamIt revenue, and over $2.7 million in earnings for him and his associates.
Why it matters: Spam is estimated to cost U.S. businesses more than $40 billion annually, while the entire SpamIt program generated just over $150 million in revenue across four years - a small outlay against a large bill borne by everyone else.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Data Breaches
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