Hotmail problems unrelated to spam attack claims MSN

Hotmail has denied that apparent problems with its service are related to the Randex worm which crippled Australian ISP Telstra earlier this week.

While the webmail giant did not deny it is experiencing problems, which have meant some users are unable to access the site at peak times, it said they are more likely related to high demand from users than anything more malicious.

A number of global ISPs have been hit by a huge surge in traffic resulting from the Randex worm, which spammers have used to create open relays on Windows-based PCs. Most notable among those affected was Telstra's Big Pond ISP.

Users attempting to access the Hotmail service in the past week have occasionally been faced with an error page informing them 'The server is busy'.

Although the Randex effect has not been ruled out altogether, a spokeswoman for Hotmail told silicon.com that the timing is probably a coincidence.

"It is highly unlikely that the error messages are related to the Randex worm. They are probably just due to the sheer number of users trying to access the service in peak times," she said.

However, she said MSN is constantly reviewing its service and said the company will consider increasing capacity should the problems prove to be ongoing.

"Naturally, MSN is always evaluating server capacity and uptime, and will make changes as appropriate," she added.