MARCH 20th, 2009 VANCOUVER, BC: LinuxMagic, the creator of MagicSpam, has discovered that significant levels of spam are coming from legitimate servers. Using the data collected from UCEPROTECT's backscatterer database, LinuxMagic released a report containing backscatter levels from email servers and is working to help these email operators eliminate it from their servers.

Backscatter is collectively known as the unwanted email generated by email servers which attempt to 'bounce' spam emails. Bouncing emails is a normal part of the email server job and using best practices can avoid most forms of backscatter. However, there are still a lot of email servers that do this incorrectly and are at risk of being blacklisted.

Spammers bypass server filters using valid email addresses, also known as forging or spoofing. Servers then bounce the spam to the forged 'from' addresses which can generate thousands of bounces to the victims mailbox. Spammers often target such servers without the protection or proper protocols because they can use them to bounce spam, masking their original source and making the email look legitimate.

Most email servers are designed to 'block' such attacks, but according to the statistics gathered over the past 45 days on the UCEPROTECT backscatter page, over 300,000 email servers are actively sending backscatter. LinuxMagic ran a report against those listed sources and discovered some interesting facts http://probethenet.com/results.

Top Mail Server Sources of Backscatter:

Top Countries of Origin:

One of the reasons that the United States produces so much backscatter is because it has a large number of internet hosting companies that offer email services. The operators of these email servers may be unaware of backscatter or unable to stop it. Of course this causes a problem for hosting companies which may find their networks blacklisted because of the backscatter coming from their IP addresses.

LinuxMagic created MagicSpam, an Anti-Spam product for email servers that provides an answer for the industry looking to reduce the risks and problems associated with being blacklisted. MagicSpam does this by working with the existing mail server to provide an easier way for email operators to stop backscatter coming from their mail server (http://www.magicspam.com).

Corporate Information:

LinuxMagic is a leader in developing anti spam solutions for the ISP and Telco markets. As a member of the Canadian Anti-Spam Task force and the number one Linux Development house in the Pacific Northwest USA, LinuxMagic continues to provide technology specifically targeted towards customers looking for simpler integrated solutions for their mail servers.

• http://www.linuxmagic.com
• http://www.magicspam.com

UCEPROTECT-Network's core database is fed by a cluster of more than 50 UCEPROTECT-Servers (Executive-Members) located in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Canada and Australia.

• http://www.uceprotect.net/
• http://www.backscatterer.org/