Cracking down on botnets

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Cracking down on botnets
Botnet	Waledac
Malware
Botnet/malware group
Exploit kits
Services
Feature
Distribution vector
Target
Origin
Campaign
Operation/Working group	Operation b49
Vulnerability
CCProtocol
Date	2010 / 2010-02-24
Editor/Conference	Microsoft
Link	http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft blog/archive/2010/02/25/cracking-down-on-botnets.aspx (Archive copy)
Author	Tim Cranton
Type	Blogpost

Abstract

“ Botnets - networks of compromised computers controlled by hackers known as “bot-herders” - have become a serious problem in cyberspace. Their proliferation has led some to worry that the botnet problem is unsolvable. Under the control of a hacker or group of hackers, botnets are often used to conduct various attacks ranging from denial of service attacks on websites, to spamming, click fraud, and distribution of new forms of malicious software.

At Microsoft, we don’t accept the idea that botnets are a fact of life. We are a founding member of the Botnet Task Force, a public-private partnership to join industry and government in the fight against bots. Given the recent spread of botnets, we are getting even more creative and aggressive in the fight against botnets and all forms of cybercrime. That’s why I’m proud to announce that through legal action and technical cooperation with industry partners, we have executed a major botnet takedown of Waledac, a large and well-known “spambot.” The Wall Street Journal has a story on the case (WSJ subscription required).

The concept of a botnet can be difficult to grasp. The infographic below explains how these nefarious programs work by hijacking thousands of computers, usually without their owners’ knowledge.

Bibtex

 @misc{2010BFR957,
   editor = {Microsoft},
   author = {Tim Cranton},
   title = {Cracking down on botnets},
   date = {24},
   month = Feb,
   year = {2010},
   howpublished = {\url{http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2010/02/25/cracking-down-on-botnets.aspx}},
 }