Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Most Spam Comes From Just Six Botnets

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the all-obsessed-with-your-wang dept.

Ezhenito noted some research pointing out the (maybe) surprising bit of research that 6 botnets are responsible for 85 percent of the world's spam. That seems a bit high to me, but the only aspect of spam I am an expert in is *getting* it.

15 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. Who needs 6? by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bet I could connect any one of these bots to Kevin Bacon in 3 or less.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:Who needs 6? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      It only takes one. I can't count the number of times I've received spam that tries to get me to "3nl4rge my K3v1n B4c0n".

  2. Distributed projects by sakdoctor · · Score: 4, Funny

    Srizbi is the largest contributor at 39%
    I believe this figure could be much larger if the Trojan.Srizbi client was ported to Mac and linux
    Anyone know what licence it's distributed under?

    1. Re:Distributed projects by d3m0nCr4t · · Score: 3, Funny

      Webmaster404, meet sarcasm and irony.

    2. Re:Distributed projects by cleatsupkeep · · Score: 3, Funny

      404 Error: Sarcasm, Irony: Not Found

      Hmm, well that explains a lot.

  3. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is there a way to block these specific botnets!? Yes. Unplug your computer. Or require every person who is stupid enough to run porn.exe that they found on some website to immediately jump off a cliff carrying their computer with them.
  4. Re:Hmm by unimatrixzer0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes there is. We must activate Skynet to put an end to this Botnet/spam/virus that is spreading to our computers. Only then will we be rid of these Bots.

    --
    unimatrixzer0
  5. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  6. Re:Hmm by Himring · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hi,

    microsoft is fixing spam just like they fixed viruses.

    ty

    --
    "All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
  7. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    I did that in good faith but now I can't logon to the system. How do I get control of my system again? I host at a facility in Texas and I'm in London so I can't physically get access and part of me fears that I might've just fallen foul to a cruel and callous internet joke.

  8. You have overlooked a more permanent solution. by Dimensio · · Score: 4, Funny

    While it may be difficult to terminate entire networks and IP address ranges, a more effective solution would be to identify the individuals who are directly responsible for sending unsolicited just e-mail through "botnets" and the individuals who are responsible for providing access to these illegally hijacked "botnets" and then kill them. Such an action would be most effective if done brutally and painfully, through acts of torture, with videos and images of the events and the aftermath released to the public as a warning to others who might engage in the same behaviour.

    --
    STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
  9. Re:Hmm by Kamokazi · · Score: 2, Funny

    The second option sounds a lot easier.

    --
    As our way of thanking you for your positive contributions to Slashdot, you are eligible to disable Slashdot 2.0.
  10. Re:Anti-bots? by AeroIllini · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was wondering whether it would help if Google (and maybe some of the other top 10) notified you when you showed up on one of the IP block lists with a big yellow box at the top of the page, like an IE alert: "Warning: Your computer has been reported to be a SPAM relay! Please clean up your computer with the following tools..." Yeah, it would be just like those Windows dialog box advertisements that jump around and say "Your computer is infected with a VIRUS! Click OK to run our FREE VIRUS REMOVAL SOFTWARE!" I always trust any random box that jumps up in front of me. There's no way that I, being a totally botnet'd infected Windows MSIE user, would simply be numb to the sheer number of popups and messages my computer throws at me every day. I read each and every one and carefully consider what it has to say before clicking the close button.
    --
    For security, the MD5 hash of this message and sig is 09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0.
  11. Re:Hmm by holyspidoo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bill Gates: No one is ever going to need more than 6 botnets.

  12. Re:Hmm by Guido+del+Confuso · · Score: 2, Funny

    You're going to have to reboot the system to reset that, as has been mentioned. However, there's an easy way to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. Once your system is up and running, log in (as root) and type "rm -rf /"

    Doing this will prevent any sort of malicious command from being run in the future.