Spam Drops 66% After Stutting Down One Host

via WaPo:

"Wow. One spam host got taken offline Tuesday and the worldwide volume of spam dropped by two-thirds:

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.

....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....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.

I suppose the spam purveyors of the world will find another host before long, but still. One server farm was responsible for more than half the spam traffic in the entire world? Wow again."

Source: Kevin Drum