Microsoft Disrupts Botnet Hijacking Search Results and Exploiting Search Engines

Today, Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU), in partnership with law enforcement and industry partners, announced the successful disruption of the Sirefef botnet, also known as ZeroAccess. This dangerous botnet is responsible for hijacking people’s search results and taking them to potentially dangerous websites that could install malware onto their computer, steal their personal information, or fraudulently charge businesses for online advertisement clicks. ZeroAccess also commits click fraud. According to the latest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, by the end of 2012, malicious or compromised websites had emerged to become the top threats facing enterprises as well as consumers.  This botnet specifically targets search results on the major online search and advertising platforms including Google, Bing and Yahoo!, and is estimated to cost online advertisers $2.7 million each month. Read more