Blog 10: Hacker ‘Command’ Servers Seized in US: Microsoft

Microsoft on Monday said that cyber crime “command” servers in two US states were seized in an ongoing campaign to sever online crooks from infected computers used as virtual henchmen. The software colossus capitalized on laws crafted to fight organized crime groups to obtain court orders to seize servers in Pennsylvania and Illinois being used to control computers corrupted by malicious code. Viruses slipped into people’s computers stole online bank account and password information and relayed it to crooks who have looted more than $100 million in the past five years, according to court documents. The “worldwide, illegal” computer networks were an amalgam of more than 13 million infected machines referred to as “Zeus botnets” due to the type of malicious code involved. Zeus malware is designed to log keystrokes typed on computers, watching for patterns that indicate information about online bank accounts.  “A number of the most harmful botnets using the Zeus family of malware worldwide have been disrupted in an unprecedented, proactive cross-industry operation against this cybercriminal organization,” Microsoft digital crimes unit senior attorney Richard Boscovich said in a blog post. The seizure of “command and control” servers by Microsoft employees escorted by police on Friday was the latest move by the industry to cut elusive cyber criminals off from infected computers used to do their bidding. Microsoft six months ago took down a “botnet” believed to have been used for nefarious activities including spam, stock scams, and sexual exploitation of children, and sued the owner of an online domain used to control operations.  This is a very important movement for many reasons.  In the past, it has been impossible to detect when and where cyber crimes were occurring in the world.  So it is a good thing that Microsoft is developing software that will be able to detect these viruses and put an end to them.  Cyber crime has long been a problem that slips through the government so it is good that things are being done to prevent these criminal acts.

 http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/tech/hacker-command-servers-seized-in-us-microsoft/507465