Report: Microsoft takes down botnet reportedly run by Russians

MOSCOW, Mar 11 (PRIME) -- Microsoft has tracked a group, believed to be based in Russia, as it hijacked 9 million computers around the world to send spam emails meant to defraud unsuspecting victims, the New York Times said in a report, seen by PRIME on Wednesday.

The U.S. tech giant organized 35 nations on Tuesday to take down one of the world’s largest botnets, malware that secretly seizes control of millions of computers around the globe. It was an unusual disruption of an Internet criminal group, because it was carried out by a company, not a government.

The action, eight years in the making, was aimed at a criminal group called Necurs, believed to be based in Russia.

Microsoft employees had long tracked the group, which also mounted stock market scams and spread ransomware, which locks up a computer until the owner pays a fee.

As soon as a federal court order against the Necurs network was unsealed, Microsoft employees began prearranged calls with authorities and network providers around the world to strike Necurs at once, cutting off its connections to computers around the globe.

Necurs is not believed to be a state-sponsored Russian group. But intelligence officials say it is tolerated by the Russian state, and on regular occasions the Kremlin’s intelligence services use private actors to pursue their goals.

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