Microsoft says that it has disrupted a botnet behind one of the largest cybercrime networks.
The botnet, which is called Necurs, is responsible for infecting around nine million computers around the world. It’s also known as having one of the largest spam email networks. Necurs reportedly creates 3.8 million spam emails every two months.
Microsoft and its partners were able to disrupt Necurs by analyzing how the network creates new domains. The tech giant then predicted six million domains that Necurs would likely generate. Following that, it reported these domains to get them blocked.
In doing so, Microsoft was able to prevent future attacks from Necurs. Microsoft says that this project took eight years of planning after it became aware of the network in 2012.
Necurs has been behind numerous pharmaceutical spam emails and dating scams. It is reportedly operated by cybercriminals that are based in Russia.
Microsoft says that it collaborating with internet service providers to remove Necurs’ malware from peoples’ computers.
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