AMSTERDAM. Recently, a new trend started to evolve from spammers. Many smaller hosting companies currently allow to freely register subdomains and give out complimentary hosting packages in order to remain competitive. Spammers discovered a new tactic: it takes longer before a spamfilter recognizes that spam messages are sent via a newly infected website, than already via longer existing ones that are involved with legitimate traffic. This time difference allows them to generate billions of spam messages that are sent out via a botnet and it makes them a fortune.
“Being able to anonymously purchase a domain, spammers can easily continue with their activities without being caught”, according to Nils Decker from the email security firm SpamExperts. It is very easy to sign up and send spam messages via new websites, and after the attack simply register for another domain and start all over again.”.
Registration regulations when purchasing a domain are not equal in every country. China for example obliges purchasers now to hand over their ID and fill out a formal application. Due to that, spam sent from Chinese top level domains decreased from 50% to 20%.
