Microsoft & Symantec team up to take down Bamital botnet
Over the past few years, Microsoft has been proactive in trying to shut down criminal botnets that use malware to infect PCs for the use of their illegal activities. So far, the company has conducted operations to take down the Rustock, Kelihos, and Zeus-based botnets, among others.
Today, Microsoft announced yet another takedown of a botnet and this time it worked with antivirus company Symantec to do so. The official Microsoft blog has the details of this new move, called Operation b58, to deactivate the Bamital botnet.
Microsoft said the criminal operation was designed to hijack the search results on a user's PC, where it could then install malware that might steal personal information. The botnet could also generate false clicks on online ad banners that defrauded online ad agengies.
