Court OKs Microsoft's new weapon for taking down botnets
It had never been attempted before: Microsoft, attempting to decapitate a network of computers that send out billions of spam e-mails, filed a restraining order against 276 Web domains that ran the infamous Waledac botnet.
Last week, a federal judge approved the new tactic. Those 276 domains -- URLs such as "discountfreesms.com" -- will likely be permanently transferred to Microsoft for shutdown.
"Today, I'm pleased to announce that our legal action to permanently shut down the botnet has been successful and we have begun working with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and CERTS (Computer Emergency Response Teams) to help customers remove the Waledac infection from their computers," Richard Boscovich, senior attorney for the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, wrote in a blog post today.
