INTERNET
Spammers clog Eircom mail server
01-11-2002
by
Eircom Net said that a spam 'attack' on Thursday was prevented, but many subscribers experienced delays due to the information overload.
Ireland's top ISP, Eircom Net, was hit with thousands of e-mails over a short period of time on Thursday, causing one of the firm's e-mail servers to become overloaded with messages, delaying e-mail delivery to subscribers.
The incident could have been much worse, explained Fintan Lawlor, general manager, Eircom Net. Lawlor told ElectricNews.Net that only around 2 percent to 3 percent of Eircom's e-mail users were affected for a period of up to four hours. Eircom Net currently has 365,000 users. The influx of spam, which clogged just one of the company's e-mail servers, is thought to have originated in Asia.
Lawlor declined to say exactly how many spam e-mails were sent to the ISP, but sources have estimated that the rate was about 1,000 a minute for a sustained period. "We are prepared to deal with these kinds of things and we were able to ring-fence the problem right away," said Lawlor.
"I wouldn't describe the attack as overly severe. Do I wish it hadn't happened? Of course, but this is something that all ISPs have to cope with," he commented. "This kind of thing happens all the time and 364 out of 365 days all e-mails are delivered on time."
Lawlor said the delay in delivering the mails came as the company sought to separate legitimate e-mail from what appeared to be unsolicited bulk spam. The spam messages were advertising "health" products that purportedly helped people "stay youthful forever."
Lawlor said it was unclear whether the deluge of spam was designed specifically to shut down Eircom servers or whether the incident was simply a typical bulk e-mailing that overwhelmed the company's systems. "Its difficult to tell what their intentions were," he said, "but either way it's pretty clear that these were unsolicited e-mails and weren't sent from a legitimate company."
The issue of spam continues to be hotly debated in cyberspace as users regularly face the chore of clearing spam out of inboxes. Dozens of free and paid-for software tools abound that use keywords or user feedback to detect and block spam. Microsoft has admitted that on a typical day, Hotmail subscribers collectively receive more than 1 billion pieces of junk e-mail and that spam accounts for 80 percent of messages received -- not including mail blocked by Hotmail's first line of filters.
However, the world's number one software company said on Friday that it was getting more serious about the fight against spam with a new version of Outlook, which will come with some spam-fighting elements, including a feature that will make it more difficult for spammers to know if their messages have been sent to valid addresses.
Meanwhile, BT Openworld said last month that it would be using new server-based software from Brightmail that would help it weed out spam and even viruses.
But these kinds of solutions, and even legal settlements such as Thursday's agreement between US telecom Verizon and spam purveyor Additional Benefits LLC, only seem to exacerbate the situation for ISPs. With more filters in place, spammers send out more messages. And although most of these messages do not go to existing mailboxes, ISPs like Eircom Net are still forced to process the e-mail through their servers, which can sometimes clog a system.
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