Microsoft has launched an operation to crack down on cyber criminals by disturbing the communication lines between infected computers and hackers who were reportedly based in Kuwait and Algeria.
The operation began on Monday, after the company received approval from a Nevada federal court to target cyber criminals known as Jenxcus and Blababindi. These groups were known to distribute malwares that were written and developed in the two nations.
"We have never seen malware coded outside Eastern Europe that is as big as this. This really demonstrates the globalization of cybercrime," said assistant general counsel of Microsoft's cybercrime-fighting Digital Crimes Unit Richard Domingues Boscovich to Reuters.
The malware distributed by these groups were equipped with dashboards that could perform the functions of a computer. According to the Microsoft report filed before the U.S. District Court of Nevada on June 19, these malwares could record keystrokes, listen to conversations, and steal passwords.
The court read the report, which revealed that at least 500 people have purchased the malware, on Monday
Boscovich told Reuters that at least 94 percent of all the computers affected by the malwares communicate with hackers via Vitalwerks. Vitalwerks acted as a channel between the hackers and the computers, allowing the hackers to protect themselves from authorities.
The company has begun filtering out the communications between infected PCs and at least 194 types of malware associated with Vitalwerks. The court ordered obtained by the software giant allowed them to intervene with Vitalwerks' operations.
Vitalwerks, meanwhile, stated that this operation affected the service that they rendered to millions of users.
"Vitalwerks and (operational subsidiary) No-IP have a very strict abuse policy. Our abuse team is constantly working to keep the No-IP system domains free of spam and malicious activity," a spokeswoman for Vitalwerks told Reuters.
