Microsoft thwarts Nitol botnet with restraining order
Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit was granted a restraining order against criminals behind the Nitol botnet, allowing the company to thwart the spread of more than 500 strains of malware targeting millions of people through unsecure supply chains.
The order, approved Monday by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, allows Microsoft to take over hosting the 3322.org domain, which once was repository of nearly 70,000 malicious subdomains managed by attackers, including the Nitol botnet.
Peng Yong, his company Changzhou Bei Te Kang Mu Software Technology, and other unnamed accomplices were listed as defendants in Microsoft's filed complaint. “Microsoft alleges that defendants have violated federal and state law by operating a computer botnet and other malicious software through more than 70,000 subdomains of 3322.org, causing the unlawful intrusion into, infection of, and further illegal conduct involving the personal computers of innocent persons, thereby causing harm to those persons, Microsoft and the public at large,” said the complaint.
