Penis-pill spam email returns
Monday, December 8, 2008
A botnet that was castrated with the shutdown of McColo last month has apparently returned to email accounts to ask why you don't want to be a bigger man.
According to the net security firm Marhsal8e6, the Mega-D botnet has re-emerged and is up to its old habit of sending spam emails touting the sexual benefits of penis-enlargement pills, the Register reports.
Though the botnet has been linked to a network of compromised zombie computers, the actual location is ongoing.
"Spam from Mega-D has been ramping up over the last few days and reached up to 48 percent of all the spam we captured in our honeypot spam traps," Phil Hay, lead threat analyst for Marshal8e6, told the news provider.
Officials at Marshall8e6 said the botnet may have been enhanced itself, upgraded with elements from back-door program Rustock, according to the Register.
Last month, web-hosting company McColo was shut down after a connection to spammers was discovered. At the time, it was thought the company sent out 80 percent of the world's spam.
After the McColo closed, a massive decrease in spam was reported. However, it appears the down turn was only temporary.
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