We’ve received increased reports of a new phishing scam email message that uses the name and official logo of the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit (DCU). The wording varies, but it looks like a security measure and says you need to validate your account by confirming your user name and password or...

On February 6, Microsoft announced that its Digital Crimes Unit had worked with Symantec to successfully deactivate a major botnet called Bamital . Below is an overview of Bamital and how you can remove it from your computer. Botnets are networks of compromised computers, controlled remotely by criminals...

Microsoft, in collaboration with the financial services industry, successfully executed a coordinated global action against the Zeus botnet . Zeus is a type of malware that can monitor your online activity and record your keystrokes to commit identity theft. Learn more about the botnet takedown ....

Microsoft has officially announced that our civil case against the operators of the Rustock botnet (a major source of spam) has been closed and our teams have turned over the information we’ve gathered to the FBI. The Rustock botnet is considered one of the largest sources of spam on the Internet...

This week, Richard Boscovich, Senior Attorney for the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, announced a $250,000 bounty for information that results in the identification, arrest, and criminal conviction of those responsible for controlling the Rustock botnet . Microsoft shuttered Rustock (a major source...

In March we reported that Microsoft, in cooperation with industry and academic partners, had taken down the Rustock botnet , a notorious source of spam, fraud, and cybercrime. Hard disks confiscated from Rustock command and control servers This week Microsoft released new information that explores...

The FBI and U.S. Department of Justice announced an operation to take down the Coreflood botnet. The term bot is short for robot. Criminals distribute malicious software (also known as malware) that can turn your computer into a bot (also known as a zombie). When this occurs, your computer can perform...

Watch experts from Microsoft and other organizations explain how botnets work and how Microsoft and Pfizer helped bring down the Rustock botnet , a notorious source of spam, fraud, and cybercrime. Watch the video from CNBC World Business: Rustock Takedown Is Part of Larger War on Spam

Microsoft, in cooperation with industry and academic partners, has taken down the Rustock botnet, a notorious source of spam, fraud, and cybercrime. The Rustock botnet is a network of infected computers controlled by cybercriminals and used for a variety of illegal activities. The owners of the...

Botnets are networks of compromised computers controlled by cybercriminals. Botnets can send out spam, spread malicious software, steal passwords, and more. Zbot (also known as the "Zeus Botnet") has been responsible for stealing passwords and other financial information from infected computers...

In her keynote speech at the RSA Conference in Europe yesterday, Adrienne Hall (General Manager, Microsoft Trustworthy Computing) shared evidence from the latest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report and outlined the progress that Microsoft and others have made in battling botnets . "While we...

Today Microsoft released the latest Security Intelligence Report (SIR). The ninth volume of this comprehensive report covers evolving threat landscape trends from January through June 2010, with a focus on botnets . You can read the report section by section online , or you can download the...

We can increase collective computer security by taking cues from the healthcare industry, argues Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Trustworthy Computing. Charney outlined this position in a recently published paper entitled Collective Defense: Applying Public Health Models to the...

This year one of the main focuses of National Cyber Security Awareness Month is the increasing risk of computer botnets and other types of malicious software (also known as malware). Microsoft is fighting the war against botnets on both the technological and the legal fronts. To learn more about...

Botnets are networks of compromised computers that are controlled remotely and secretly by one or more cybercriminals. If your computer is infected with a botnet it can perform automated tasks over the Internet without your knowledge. These tasks often include sending out large numbers of spam messages...

Yesterday Microsoft announced a successful, collaborative effort to deactivate a major botnet, called win32/Waledac. Botnets are networks of compromised personal and business computers controlled remotely and secretly by one or more cybercriminals. Botnets send massive amounts of unsolicited e-mail...

The Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC ) recently noted the inevitable increase in holiday-themed viruses and worms. There's not much new about this malware: You get an e-mail or instant message that promises a greeting, holiday image, or music. If you click the message, your computer...

The New York Times recently posted an article about a team at Microsoft that works in a "windowless room" investigating how programs skulk around the Internet turning computers into zombies. We thought this sounded a little scarier than it really is, and that a little more detail might help. ...