Microsoft Very Serious About Finding Rustock Operators
Microsoft is serious about this whole "eliminating botnets" thing. The company's offering a bounty for the operators behind the Rustock botnet, which the company helped disable in March. Before it went offline, the botnet proved capable of sending billions of spam e-mails per day.
In exchange for information leading to those operators' arrest and conviction and whatnot, Microsoft is now willing to pay some $250,000. That's a pretty big chunk of change, and the company's probably betting it's enough to persuade someone to sell their botnet-building buddy out.
"This reward offer stems from Microsoft's recognition that the Rustock botnet is responsible for a number of criminal activities and serves to underscore our commitment to tracking down those behind it," Richard Boscovich, senior attorney for Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit, wrote in a July 18 email posted on The Official Microsoft Blog. "The legal action Microsoft has taken in civil court has already been successful, helping us take down the Rustock botnet and disrupt its operations."
