Why did spam on the internet drop this week?

November 16, 2008 by Bob
Filed under: E-Mail Related Issue, Spam Tips and Information 

In the last few days it has been reported that a major spammer McCOLO has been shutdown. It was reported that this operations was responsible for 50% to 70% of all the spam on the internet. This is some of the best news that could be reported for everyone. I have seen charts that show the drop off of the spam that happened this past week.  Spam is a plague on the internet and will never go away. Don’t think that this one event, eliminated spam and malware on the internet. It didn’t. Getting rid of one helps a lot but there will more that will pop up to take their place. It will always be with us. It was just a dent into the problem. It happened to be a very large dent, but only a dent. It’s like any crime. Just because it may be outlawed, doesn’t mean that it will completely go away. They will regroup and reopen somewhere else. You always have to be aware and protect yourself from spam and internet attacks.

What should you be doing now? The same thing you were doing before. Protect yourself. Have a Virus protection program, run your anti-spyware program, block the spam before it get into your mailbox. Keep your programs up to date.

Update your operating system. This alone is one the most important this you can do to protect your computer. It doesn’t matter if you are running the Apple or Microsoft operating system. Keep your Windows computer updated with the most current patches. This may seem like work, but it is something that can prevent a lot of problem with your computer’s security. With Windows make sure do a Microsoft Windows Update. (Just open Internet Explorer and click on Tools then Windows Update. Do it now)

One of the easiest ways to protect your computer from spam is using Postini’s Virus and Spam protection. This is only available to you if you have your own domain name you receive mail at. Postini is better than amazing and what a fine job it does. Keeping the spam out of your mail box in the first place is the best way to prevent infecting your computer. The way Postini does this is to perform the filtering of all the mail prior to it getting your domains mailbox.

You should check out the web site  http://Postiniforyourdomain.com for more information on the Postini service.

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Comments

6 Comments on Why did spam on the internet drop this week?

  1. Vic on Mon, 17th Nov 2008 12:28 pm

    2. Great news! But it’s a pity we still need to watch out.

    I’ve a Windows computer and I’m using AVG Anti-Virus Free software to scan the computer. I used to like it, but not anymore as the new version 8 is very slow. Do you have tips on which (free) anti-virus program to use?

  2. Bob on Mon, 17th Nov 2008 1:14 pm

    3. Victor, AVG is still one of the best free anti-virus software program out there. The key word here is free. The free version doesn’t do everything. It does virus scanning but no removal of anything it finds, if I read their web site correctly. I myself don’t use a free virus protection program. It’s just too important that my system be protected at all time. I use Trend Micro Products, a corp. version. The consumer version is called PcCillin and is about $50.00 US. AVG full versions is just a good.

    You should also have a Spyware Scanner on your windows computer as well. Two I’m aware of are PcDoctor spyware program. Here in the US it is available from Google download for free and is a lite versions, but works fine. Here is the link here in the US. http://pack.google.com/intl/en/pack_installer.html . You can also do a search for Google toolbar and go there. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and find download. Here in the US it is listed on the Google Download page. The other is AdWare. Haven’t used it in a few years, but it used to be good.

    Keep your Windows computer up to date with all Updated from Microsoft. It is a must do for Windows and Office.

    That is about all I can suggest. As for AVG being slow, I just don’t know. As more checking is added it can take more system resources. This can slow it down and maybe even slow down the system.

    Bob

  3. Dominique on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 11:31 am

    4. Hi Bob,

    I have a question from a business perspective about this.

    I have an online business with clients I work with 1:1. It is a resume business.

    I do not spam, and I don’t even send out articles or advertisements to “lists” yet. My business has purely been word of mouth.

    Yesterday, when communicating with a client to his personal email, I received a message that my address had been blocked by sbcglobal for “abuse” as a spammer.

    I called the client and he said he didn’t block me. I have worked with him for several months on resumes and interview coaching so we have lots of email exchanges and I am on his “safe” list.

    He contacted the company to have them unblock me. But I am afraid this could happen again and it would really hurt my business.

    Is there any indication of how this could have happened and how I can fix it?

    Thank you so much for your insight.
    Dominique

  4. Bob on Wed, 26th Nov 2008 4:41 am

    5. When you run into an issue related to email and it being banned or block, by an ISP like SBC Global, can be very complex. The first thing that you or anyone who runs into this situation need to do is to gather up all the information you can. It will all come down to the details.

    Gather up the following information:

    1: What email account and address did you send from. You need to know this.

    2: You would have received an email from the receiving ISP, in this case SBC Global when the email was refused. You have to have this email. If you don’t have this information then send another email to same address that was being blocked one of two things will occur. The mail will go through and problem resolved or you will receive an email back with the mail bouncing information. You will need this information in the reply message to investigate your problem. If you don’t have this information then getting it corrected will be very difficult.

    3: ISPs like SBC Global do not block mail by email address or by a domain name. They block by IP address. The IP address being blocked is the one from your web hosting company.

    What you need to do is to contact your Web Hosting company technical support and explain what happened with this client and you email being blocked. Provide them with the items above and are the only people that can help you out.

    Bob

  5. Dominique on Wed, 26th Nov 2008 4:31 pm

    6. Thanks Bob,

    We have contacted our web hosting company and have a support ticket open.

    It happened to me again last night when mailing to another address at hotmail.

    We have the messages that were sent to us and the email we mailed from, so hopefully this will be resolved soon!

    Thank you for your help!
    Dominique

  6. lamapper on Thu, 4th Jun 2009 10:53 pm

    7. Dominique, This is the “nasty little secret” and why you will see many people mentioning Freedom of Speech, the need for legal processes to be filed (getting search warrants from a court for instance).

    Many poo poo the Freedoms issues at least until it happens to them, what has happened to you.

    You, by your own assertion have done nothing wrong and I for one believe you. However you are probably sharing an IP address with many, many other websites whether you know it or not.

    This is the only practical way for a small business to start on a shoe string, with very little money and/or revenue and start your online business. Sadly you get caught in the middle if a black hat cracker posts illegal content or some do-gooder decides they do not like the content (that content NOT being illegal) of one of the websites sharing your IP address.

    To date there is no way I know of that you can protect yourself from this happenstance. Even if you thoroughly research your ISP and determine them to be a good player, they could innocently host a bad guy tomorrow and the IP address you both share will get banned by someone for some reason.

    The best solution is for you to move to a different IP address and hope and pray that it does not get censored by someone. Good luck with that.

    I do not support illegal activity, however rationally when an ISP’s plug is pulled by its upstream telco/isp/provider they most certainly should have legal documents, search warrants and other legally enforceable documentation (along with the illegal content) against the wrong doers before blocking those websites.

    That is the key, they could force the individual websites to close, thus the innocent people like yourself do not inadvertently get harmed when the IP address is blocked. Unfortunately that method takes longer and require documentation of illegal activity in order to proceed on a legal criminal basis.

    It is much easier to just pull the plug and censor everyone on that IP address, including the innocents like yourself. Without legal filings, its just CENSORSHIP.

    Its happened before, it will happen again. Personally I am thrilled that big players like Global Crossings require the legal process to be followed and refuse to simply knee jerk pull the plug. This protects yours and my rights and access online and gives a measure of net neutrality. I am sure Global Crossings will block the offending sites once the proper legal leg work is completed and the court documents brought to them.

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