YNOT – At a time when the U.S. seems to be losing its luster in all sorts of other areas comes news that in one realm America’s reputation is improving: The country is no longer the world’s spam king.
Or, as computer security firm Kaspersky Lab’s threatpost.com noted, “USA No Longer The World’s Most Obnoxious Nation.”
According to Kaspersky analysts, the U.S. now only occasionally appears among the top 20 worldwide spam sources. The analysts opine the recent shutdown of botnets like Pushdo/Cutwail, Bredolab and Rustock helped lower the U.S.’s spam-source profile.
As for the new top-spot contenders, Kaspersky points to India, Indonesia, Brazil, Peru and Ukraine. For the period April through July 2011, those five nations produced almost half of the world’s spam. Nearly 60 percent of spam is produced in 10 countries, analysts said, and those countries increasingly are located in Asia and Latin America.
A recent Kaspersky study indicated cybercriminals now appear to be diversifying their botnets across borders as insurance against takedowns.
“Notably, synchronous distribution of spam from countries located on different continents does not mean that computers in these countries are united in one big botnet,” Kaspersky expert Maria Namestnikova said. “Several small zombie networks can also operate synchronously, receiving commands for distributions from the same individuals.”
Even though the U.S. can smile a bit after falling from its spam throne, Namestnikova put a cloud around the silver lining by pointing out that the new spam kings are employ tougher bots bound by almost no limitations.
“… [C]orrelations … suggest that following a series of successful anti-botnet campaigns, the cybercriminals are spreading their resources across different countries (and even continents) so that they can continue to function if they lose their bots in one country,” she noted. “The countries in question have not yet developed effective legislation to regulate internet activities, which allows the cybercriminals to act with impunity. What is more, the cybercriminals behind this spam traffic can manage it from any country in the world.”
In other words, much like cockroaches, spammers won’t ever really disappear. They’ll just continue to evolve in whatever dark corners they can find.
