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Spam Volumes Reduced by 16% in January 2011

Security vendor Symantec stated in its January 2011 'State of Spam and Phishing' report that the overall spam levels had reduced by 16%, from December 2010 (15.7% to be specific).

The reduction was due to the extinction of the infamous Rustock botnet early during the month (January 2011). When the botnet expired on January 4, 2011, researchers noticed the reduction in spam volumes since the McColo closure.

However, during January 2011, spam levels increased and the company projects levels in February 2011 to be up above than those in the earlier month.

The chaotic situations in Egypt also left an impact in spam volumes. Symantec observed that, when the government decided to disconnect internet access in country, spam volumes were also reduced. However, the reduction was not major on a worldwide scale. Symantec stated that Egypt estimates for only 0.1% of total spam.

The USA remains the leading contributor to spam, accounting for 29% of the total messages.

It was followed by the Netherlands (6%), Russia (5%), Brazil (5%), and India (5%) placed at positions two, three, four, and five respectively. The UK, Uruguay, and Germany ranked sixth, seventh, and eighth on the list, and each of them estimated for 3% of the total spam load.

Moreover, phishing levels were reduced by 16% in January 2011. The reduction was due to a decrease in almost all stops of phishing. phishing websites made by the automated toolkits reduced by nearly 39%, while unique URLs reduced by 1%. phishing websites with IP domains (for e.g. domains like http://255.255.255.255) decreased by about 49%. Webhosting services, which comprises 12% of the total phishing activity rose by 19% from December 2010. Non- English phishing websites were increased by 5%. Symantec states that from the non-English phishing websites, French and Portuguese were the highest in January 2011.

Further, according to the report, the USA was attacked with 52% of phishing attacks during January 2011, a reduction of 4% compared with the statistics for December 2010. Australia (2%) and China (2%) were the new entrants in January 2011 list.

Related article: Spam Scam Bags a Scottish Connection

» SPAMfighter News - 2/22/2011

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