eleven's graph depicting spam volume in 2011
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — German email security provider eleven announced on Thursday it has released the results of its latest spam trends report shows that a shift in the spam and malware landscape.
Researchers from eleven found that 2011 saw significant fluctuations in spam volumes, and for 2012, they expect spam to be sent primarily in short, massive and frequent waves which increase the risk of system overload for email infrastructures.
Eleven researchers warn email users to pay closer attention to their emails as spam and phishing emails can no longer be recognized at first glance, leading to an increasing chance that online criminals will be able to access users’ online banking and credit cards information.
The fluctuation in spam trends in 2011 were the most significant in the history of spamming since 2003. There were massive declines in spam of over 50 percent that occurred repeatedly throughout the year, with the most recent being in December 2011.
As compared to the previous month, spam volumes dropped by 70.4 precent, which was the primary reason for the significant decline in spam volumes to only 19 percent of the value from December 2010.
Spam declines of up to 80 percent occurred at the turn of the year 2010/2011 and as a result of the takedown of the Rustock botnet in March 2011, but despite this shift spam volumes increased significantly again each time.
This meant that spam volumes had returned to 78 percent of the value prior to the Rustock takedown by November 2011.
There were also significant shifts in countries of origin and topics for spam emails, which can largely be attribute to the shutdown of the world’s largest botnet, Rustock, on March 16, 2011.
The dominant spam topic was pharmaceutical advertisements, which made up for 70 percent of all spam. After Rustock, countries such as the USA, the United Kingdom and Germany all disappeared from the top-ten lists.
The year also saw emerging nations top the volume of spam, including countries in India and Asia. After the Rustock takedown, casino spam became the primary spam subject, accounting for over 50 percent of all spam. Casino spam was also a main reason behind the significant spam growth starting in August 2011, and in December, spam saw a sharp decline because of the absence of casino waves.
The study concluded with the highlighting of the three most important spam trends for 2011. The spam trends allow for clear conclusions to be drawn about the geographic and thematic distribution of leading botnets, the spamming trend has shifted from continual propagation toward short, yet massive, waves, which are particularly typical of casino spam, and the close connection between spam and malware dissemination has continued.
For 2012, eleven researchers said spam trends include spamming to continue to shift from continued dissemination to short, yet massive and frequent, waves, a growing trend toward quality over quantity for spam, phishing, and malware, spammers will increasingly attempt to diversify their infrastructures as a result of the recent botnet takedowns, the use of popular events for spam and malware campaigns will continue to increase, and finally, spam, phishing, and malware will continue to blend together.
About Justin Lee
Justin Lee has been a staff analyst with theWHIR since 2004. He writes about a range of web hosting and IT-related issues facing the industry on the WHIR website, as well the print version of the WHIR magazine. Follow him on Twitter @Justin_theWHIR.
No related posts.
