Microsoft leads FBI & Interpol coalition to destroy million strong botnet

Discovered in 2011 the Win32/Dorkbot malware has spread to over a million Windows PCs worldwide. During the last six months alone it had been infecting over 100,000 machines a month. Microsoft announced on Wednesday they had teamed up to enact a coordinated malware eradication campaign to disrupt the botnet.

The malware has been spread via a number of routes including USB drives, IM clients, Social Networks, Email and Drive-by downloads. Its primary aim was to steal online user credentials and any information that can personally identify you. It is also able to install yet more malware to your PC from command and control servers.

In order to take down Win32/Dorkbot, Microsoft worked with a number of organizations including ESET, Department of Homeland Security, Europol, FBI and Interpol. The take-down joins a long list of ongoing successful efforts to disrupt malware networks.

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