Communications of the ACM
Researchers Link Most Spam to Only 50 Isps
The majority of spam messages come from a limited number of Internet service providers (ISPs) and countries, according to a study by researchers at Delft University of Technology and Michigan State University. Of the 109 billion spam messages that the researchers collected in a spam trap from 2005 to 2009, more than half were hosted by a group of 50 ISPs.
In addition, the study found that more than 60 percent of infected machines—which are responsible for 80 percent to 90 percent of the world's spam—are located in the 33 countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsored the study, along with Estonia, Russia, Brazil, China, Indonesia, India, and South Africa. "The bulk of the infected machines are not located in the networks of obscure or rogue ISPs, but in those of established, well-known ISPs," the researchers say.
The results of the study suggest that spam could be combated by improving security at the ISPs that are responsible for the majority of the world's spam.
From Information Week
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