Since the removal of the large spam source, McColo last month, everyone thought that spam would decrease immensly and immediately. While we did see a a drastic reduction of spam and viruses directly after it was shut down, we knew better that it would only be a short time before spam was back and we warned you that it would be worse than before (articles are here and here).

SpamCop’s statistics page shows a steady increase in spam reports since last month:

Looking at the past year of spam traffic, you can see an instant impact when McColo was taken down in November, but they are rising:

The Prognosis

If you’ve seen more spam getting through your filters this winter, it’s probably not because the developers and technicians that build and maintain your anti-spam / anti-virus decided to hang out at the pool until Fall. It’s likely because the overall volume of spam and viruses continues to push boundaries never before seen. Couple this with the myriad of new techniques and tactics and, well, the security community has to scramble to keep up.

As for MxToolBox, we’ve worked hard to make sure our FlexBox Email Security Service has provided the highest possible level of protection for our customers mailbox’s though this winters spam season.  

Photo Credit: SpamCop