Microsoft, US feds disrupt Citadel botnet network

June 06, 2013

Microsoft and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation have taken aim at a botnet network based on malware called Citadel that is held responsible for stealing people’s online banking information and personal identities. The company, however, warned that because of Citadel’s size and complexity, it does not expect to fully take out “all of the botnets in the world using the Citadel malware.” Botnets are networks of computers infected by malware, which can be controlled by cybercriminals to send automated spam email, spread viruses, attack computers and servers, and commit other kinds of crime and fraud, without the knowledge of the owner of the computer. In an action, code-named Operation b54, more than 1,400 Citadel botnets, which are said to be responsible for over half a billion U.S. dollars in losses to people and businesses worldwide, were disrupted, according to a blog post late Wednesday by Richard Domingues Boscovich, assistant general counsel of Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2040881/microsoft-us-feds-disrupt-citadel-botnet-network.html#tk.rss_all