Guys Upstairs - Tech

Mmmm….spam, don’t you just love opening up that tin can and…wait, not that spam? While spam filters now are doing a decent job of filtering out a majority of e-mail spam, there is still much that can get through. McColo is a web hosting company that was a breeding ground for spammers. Companies that dealt in counterfeit pharmaceuticals and child pornography (hopefully not both at the same time) used the San Jose based hosting company. After the two internet service providers for McColo cut off their web access on Wednesday, the volume of junk e-mail dropped drastically.

Computer security experts are critical of the timeliness of the response and felt that action should have been taken sooner. There has been plenty of evidence in the past that pointed to McColo and its clients and their involvement in e-mail spam. Shutting down McColo could prove to be a double edged sword since the spam will be more disperse. When the majority came from McColo, it was relatively easier to protect networks.

[Washington Post]

Image courtesy of Ars Technica