Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity
    • IT Management
    • PC Hardware

    Microsoft Scores Court Victory Against Waledac Botnet

    By
    Brian Prince
    -
    September 9, 2010
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      A federal judge has brought Microsoft one step closer to seizing control of 276 domains controlled by the Waledac botnet.

      A magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Virginia decided Sept. 3 to recommend that a default judgment be granted in Microsoft’s favor. The defendants in the case were given 14 days to object; if they do not, the judgment will be final.

      “In this case, Microsoft presented evidence to the court that although the defendants did not come forward, they were aware of the case and actively tried to retaliate, attempting to launch a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack against the law firm that filed the suit and even going so far as to threaten one of the researchers involved in the case,” according to Microsoft.

      The legal action was the result of a joint investigation known as -Operation b49′ that also involved Symantec, Shadowserver Foundation, the University of Washington and others. Once capable of sending out more than 1.5 billion spam messages a day, the number of unique infected IP addresses has continued to decline, going from 64,000 during the week of July 23 to 58,000 as of Aug. 30.

      “As we wrote in March, communications within the botnet remain dead and we haven’t seen any new infections since we first took action,” Microsoft said. “This is a direct result both of the ex parte temporary restraining order granted by the court in February which allowed us to take the domains controlling Waledac offline before the bot-herders could move operations, as well as the remarkable mobilization by the global security community to disrupt the peer-to-peer communication within Waledac. Through this process, the courts and the security community have paved the way for future takedowns in cases where criminals are abusing anonymity to victimize computer users around the world.”

      Members of the security community have worked individually and collectively to takedown botnets on multiple occasions in the past with mixed results. Just recently for example, researchers at LastLine reached out to hosting providers for the Pushdo botnet, but were greeted by some with inaction. The result was only about 20 of the botnet’s 30 servers were taken offline, and while spam from the botnet dropped initially, it began to tick up back up shortly thereafter.

      “The Waledac takedown is the first undertaking in a larger Microsoft-led initiative called Project MARS (Microsoft Active Response for Security), which is a joint effort between Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit, the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC), Microsoft Support and the Trustworthy Computing team to annihilate botnets and help make the Internet safer for everyone…We’re also seeing other members of the security industry and law enforcement taking proactive action to both study and dismantle other botnets, such as the recent actions against Mariposa and Pushdo/Cutwail,” Microsoft said. “While the approaches to these actions have differed somewhat from the Waledac takedown, all of these efforts demonstrate that the industry is beginning to take a more aggressive stance against botnets.”

      UPDATE: This story was updated to add the exact date the judge decided to make the recommendation.

      Brian Prince

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×