Email bombing, also known as mail bombing, is a type of cyberattack where an attacker sends a massive volume of emails to a single email address or server in a short period. This can overwhelm the recipient's inbox, consume storage space, or even crash the email server.
How to Identify Email Bombing
- Sudden Spike in Email Volume: If you receive hundreds or thousands of emails in minutes or hours, especially from unknown senders or with similar subjects, it may indicate an attack.
- Inbox Overload: Your inbox becomes unresponsive, slow, or crashes due to excessive emails.
- Server Issues: If your email server (or your provider's server) slows down, rejects legitimate emails, or displays error messages, it could be under attack.
- Similar Email Patterns: Attackers often use automated tools to send identical or slightly varied emails (e.g., same subject line, spammy content).
Examples of Email Bombing
- A user receives 5,000 emails in 10 minutes from random addresses with no meaningful content.
- A company’s email server becomes unresponsive because it’s flooded with spam emails from multiple IP addresses.
Mitigation & Prevention (Using Tencent Cloud Services)
To defend against email bombing, you can:
- Use Tencent Cloud Anti-Spam Service: Filters malicious emails before they reach your inbox.
- Enable Email Rate Limiting: Tencent Cloud Email Service allows setting limits on incoming emails per minute/hour to prevent overload.
- Deploy Tencent Cloud WAF (Web Application Firewall): Protects email-related web interfaces from abuse.
- Configure Email Forwarding Rules: Redirect suspicious emails to a quarantine folder for review.
If you suspect an attack, check your email provider’s security settings or contact Tencent Cloud support for assistance.