Microsoft said that they took part in the takedown of key servers associated with the infamous ZeuS and SpyEye banking Trojan botnets on Friday. Office buildings in Illinois and Pennsylvania were raided by U.S. Marshals on Friday, March 23, accompanied by Microsoft investigators. Microsoft was supported by financial services security firms, including the Electronic Payments Association and the Financial Services - Information Sharing and Analysis Center.
"Valuable evidence and intelligence gained in the operation will be used both to help rescue peoples' computers from the control of Zeus, as well as in an ongoing effort to undermine the cybercriminal organization and help identify those responsible," says Richard Domingues Boscovich, senior attorney in Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit.
"Zeus is especially dangerous because it is sold in the criminal underground as a crimeware kit, which allows criminals to set up new command and control servers and create their own individual Zeus botnets," added Boscovich.
"We don't expect this action to have wiped out every Zeus botnet operating in the world. However, together, we have proactively disrupted some of the most harmful botnets, and we expect this effort will significantly impact the cybercriminal underground for quite some time."
