Security News > 2020 > March > Microsoft Hijacks Necurs Botnet that Infected 9 Million PCs Worldwide

Microsoft today announced that it has successfully disrupted the botnet network of the Necurs malware, which has infected more than 9 million computers globally, and also hijacked the majority of its infrastructure.

"We were then able to accurately predict over six million unique domains that would be created in the next 25 months. Microsoft reported these domains to their respective registries in countries around the world so the websites can be blocked and thus prevented from becoming part of the Necurs infrastructure," Microsoft said.

With the help of court orders, Microsoft has also obtained control over the U.S.-based infrastructure Necurs uses to distribute malware and infect victim computers.

First detected in 2012, Necurs is one of the world's most prolific spam botnet that infects systems with banking malware, cryptojacking malware and ransomware, and then further abuses them to send out massive amounts of spam emails to new victims.

"During 58 days of investigation, for example, we observed that one Necurs-infected computer sent a total of 3.8 million spam emails to over 40.6 million potential victims," Microsoft said.

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