For months, investigators at Microsoft Corp. hunkered down in front of their computer monitors, patiently stalking the shadowy figures behind what the company says is a major Web ad-fraud machine.Then, on Thursday, they pounced. Armed with a court order and law enforcement help overseas, the team took steps to cut off communication links to European-based servers considered the mega-brain for an army of zombie computers known as ZeroAccess.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303722104579240151385337672Also see:Microsoft and Friends Take Down ZeroAccess Botnet
Microsoft’s crusade against botnets raged on yesterday as the Redmond, Wash., computer giant and a coalition of law enforcement agencies and Internet security companies disrupted the notorious ZeroAccess botnet.ZeroAccess, or Sirefef as Microsoft likes to call it, is a malware platform that targets all major browsers and search engines. It’s two primary functions are to hijack search results, redirecting users to malicious websites hosting information stealing and other malware, and to commit click-fraud. In the past, ZeroAccess has demonstrated a proclivity for Bitcoin mining as well.
http://threatpost.com/microsoft-and-friends-take-down-zeroaccess-botnet/103122