.PW Becomes Spammer’s Favourite

.PW, the ccTLD for the tiny Pacific island state of Palau that has been rebranded for the “professional web”, has been accused of becoming a haven for spammers.

According to a report in TechNewsWorld, “antispam vendors are now working to update their filters, and the original registrar is assisting in their efforts.”

.PW domains are offered relatively cheaply, making them attractive to spammers.

“This came out of nowhere,” Eric Park, a senior antispam analyst with Symantec told TechNewsWorld.

“If you look at our TLD distribution, .com, .ru, .info — those are usually at the top of our list,” he said.

“But PW was by far the runaway number — even more than .com,” Park added.

According to the report, “not only is Symantec bolstering its filters to block the spam, but it’s also working with the owner of the domain to help curb abuse of it.”

“The registrar, from what I can tell, is interested in action to take the spammers down,” he said. “Not all registrars care, but these guys seem interested in working with us to shut them out because it’s damaging the brand they’re trying to push.”

To read the TechNewsWorld report in full, go to:
www.technewsworld.com/story/Island-Nations-Web-Domain-Now-Paradise-for-Spammers-78073.html