Web hosting services in China are allowing anyone to pay about $700 to send out an unlimited amount of spam worldwide. The service, also called "bulletproof hosting," is nothing new in the tech world.

The actual intent of bulletproof hosting is to allow leniency in the kinds of material that users may upload. Unfortunately, spammers, gambling websites and porn pushers have constantly abused this system to the point where deviant behavior is almost expected.

The Ministry of Public Security in China has been cracking down on online gambling sites and Internet pornographers for some time now, which is why server hosting services are now trying to attract the attention of international spammers.

Protected and Undetected Spamming

If that isn't bad enough, the hosting companies are even flaunting their intentions all across the Internet.

As Tecom reasoned on their open website: "Your web hosting provider will shut down your web site within days or even sooner, if they find out you are sending bulk emails and directing people to your site on their server. Bullet-Proof Web Hosting helps you to direct customers to your web site, and you won't have to worry about being shut down because of spam complaints." (Source: yahoo.com)

Spammers are even manipulating bulletproof services to host Internet domain names. In a three-month period, more than 22,300 domains, all sending out pharmaceutical spam, were linked back to just six bulletproof computers in China.

It is estimated that an online spammer can register an anonymous bulletproof domain for about $100.

International Security Problems

Bulletproof hosting poses an even bigger problem than a high volume of unwanted spam.

In the past, when a domain was used for sending out bulk emails, security officials would use an established protocol to report the domain to its registrar and eliminate it altogether from the Internet. Now, since the domain names cannot be shut down, the spread of spam continues. (Source: computerworld.com)

The short-term hope for security officials is that the Chinese government will continue to toughen its stance against online deviants. Analysts are certain that once the government understands the new trend in bulletproof hosting, it will crack down on spammers in a manner reflective of the already established penalties for online gambling hosts and Internet pornographers.