Microsoft, Symantec take a bite out of cybercrime.

• Position: DATA SECURITY - Brief article

Software powerhouse Microsoft announced in early February that its Digital Crimes Unit, in conjunction with Symantec, successfully took down the Bamital botnet. According to Microsoft, the botnet hijacked people's search results and took them to potentially dangerous websites that could install malware onto their computers, steal personal information, or fraudulently charge businesses for online advertisement clicks.

Microsoft filed a lawsuit January 31, supported by a declaration from Symantec, against the botnet's operators in order to sever all communication lines between the botnet and the malware-infected computers under its control. The court granted the requests, and technicians from Microsoft and Symantec, accompanied by U.S. federal marshals, seized data and evidence from the botnet through raids on data centers in...