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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Spam Volumes Dip After Spamit.com Closure

Summary: Spam trackers recorded an approximately 40 percent drop in junk email since the start of October 2010, which M86 Security Labs attributed to a rapid decline in activity from the Rustock botnet, while McAfee attributed the drop to a 45 percent decrease in Pushdo-infected PCs sending spam since Oct. 1. The decline coincided with spamit.com, described as the world's largest spam affiliate program, ending payments to affiliates promoting its online pharmacy sites on Oct. 1.

Bottom line: Two major vendors looked at the same drop and named different botnets, and M86's Anstis conceded that in the end the only person who knows who is sending what is the botnet author - a reminder that attribution data security leaders rely on can be contested even among the firms selling it.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Data Breaches
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