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Microsoft ranked fifth worst spam service ISP
Microsoft is listed fifth in the Top 10 list of the worst spam service ISPs compiled by Spamhaus.org.
Spammers are advertising links to sites that "peddle fake pharmacy products, porn, and Nigerian 419 scams" on Microsoft's Live.com and Livefilestore.com sites because they know that the Microsoft sites won't get blocked by antispam groups, writes Brian Krebs on his Security Fix Blog at the Washington Post.
Spamhaus has been alerting Microsoft to the problem for some time, but to no avail, Richard Cox, Spamhaus' chief information officer, told Krebs. Other security companies, including McAfee and Marshal, have also been warning about increases in spam and scams on Microsoft-hosted sites.
A Microsoft spokesman responded to a request for comment with this e-mailed statement:
Spam and other abuse scenarios are not Microsoft-specific. Microsoft offers Windows Live, a suite of software and services that provides opportunities for customers to post and share their own content through Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live SkyDrive, and other free services. As such, spammers have multiple avenues to target consumers with malicious activities. We take protecting our customers' security and privacy seriously and are continually working to improve their experiences while making industry-leading progress to mitigate such attacks through both oversight and technology advancements. Using Windows Live services for spam is explicitly prohibited by the terms of service, and Windows Live accounts that are found to be used by spammers are aggressively removed.
Interestingly, Verizon.com is listed at No. 9.
Microsoft's Live.com and Livefilestore.com are riddled with spam and online scams, Spamhaus.org says.
(Credit: Spamhaus.org)
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor. 
Microsoft, you need to do something about this comment spam and speed up the service too, its like molasses. The Windows Server 2008 HPC needs more RAM.
Google has a similar issue with their services. In fact if you count hosters of malicious software (instead of just spam) then I believe Google networks still rank #1.
A third problem are sites like TinyURL.com, again used by spammers to hide / redirect links.
Livefilestore.com, on the other hand, is a mess. It's a sewer of spam redirectors, viruses, Nigerian 419 scams, and malware. What's worse, every time I've ever sent a complaint to any of Microsoft's spam or abuse reporting addresses, it always bounces back with the same error message: "Unfortunately, in order to process your request, MSN Support needs a valid MSN hosted account." I can't even figure out what that means; is it trying to say that you must be a Microsoft customer in order to provide a spam report?
I've seen viruses and malware redirectors stay active on Livefilestore.com for weeks. It's clear that dealing with abuse is simply a very low priority for Microsoft. They could stop a lot of the abuse very simply: don't permit Javascript redirectors, run virus scans on uploaded files, and respond to abuse reports in a timely manner. So far, they seem unwilling or unable to take any of those actions.
I don't think it's malice on Microsoft's part so much as ignorance. In their blinding zeal to tackle Google, they're recklessly making decisions without any thought to security. It should have occurred to someone that offering a free file and Web site storage space to anyone who wanted it would result in folks trying to use that space for viruses, spam, phishes, and scam sites; everyone who has ever offered free file and Web storage space has had to deal with that. But Microsoft seems to have been utterly blindsided, as if it simply didn't occur to them.
And if you run as a non-admin (like you are supposed to), even that isn't really needed.
Peddle your FUD elsewhere.
*snicker*
/P
Don't bring it down. I make proper use of Hotmail. Use it to create an account to sign up on websites. That way the spam gets redirected back to where it originated from.
It is an easy way to keep spam out of your email(I get ~5 or less spam messages a week) and it is a poetic solution.
MSFT? Their mail service has been a running joke in the SMTP community ever since they bought Hotmail. To their credit, they did try raising the barrier to getting an account (to at least slow down the robo-signups), but yeah - they're a spam-pit... just block all inbound traffic from hotmail and be done with it.
/P
/P
I hope you didn't get paid to write it.
You might want to know what you are talking about before you post comments.
Maybe you can have fun with him and ask what an RBL is or how one works... :)
- by linneyob March 11, 2009 8:05 PM PDT
- When I report a scam e-mail with a "reply to" address at live.com or hotmail.com, I always get a canned reply saying they can't help because it's not a Microsoft hosted account. No wonder they have so many spam problems.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(23 Comments)If I send a complaint to Verizon, I get a quick response telling me they'll follow up on the problem.
At least Verizon seems to be making an effort. If I were a spammer or a scammer, I'd certainly register for a lot Microsoft addresses. I could probably do a lot of damage before Microsoft could be bothered to respond....