Something very unusual is happening on the web: the amount of spam has dropped dramatically, and its causes are unknown. According to the online security company Symantec, the volume of spam has dropped to 200,000 million a day in August to 50,000 million in December. An analyst at Symantec Hosted Solution explains to the BBC at Christmas time one of the three largest emitters of spam reduced its activity."But it's difficult to say why," said Paul Wood, Symantec. The vast majority of spam is sent by networks of compromised computers known as botnets. One of these, known as Rustock, was at the time of maximum activity responsible for the shipment of between 47% and 48% of all global spam, says Wood.
In December, Rustock activity was only 0.5% according to studies by the company. Two other major botnets, Xarvester Lethic and also reduced their activity. Have registered huge drops in spam activity in the past, according to Wood, disruptions associated with botnets, but this time, Rustock has not suffered stoppages.
This means that those who control Rustock have been able to continue flooding the mails with spam and for some reason have not. One possible explanation is that spammers are regrouping to launch a new offensive in light of the recent campaigns against spam. In fact, last September, a group known as Spamit announced its closure due to "numerous adverse events" and increased attention against him.
But this time, yet remains a mystery.
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