Microsoft has filed a civil lawsuit in a federal court in Nevada on June 19 naming two foreign nationals, Mohamed Benabdellah and Naser Al Mutairi from Kuwait and Algeria for their involvement in creating a malware it claims has infected millions of computers globally.
Microsoft has also named US based domain hosting company Vitalwerks Internet Solutions for not taking adequate steps to keep its domains safe from malicious activity.
According to Microsoft this is first high-profile case that involves a malware written by developers outside of Eastern Europe. The investigation and the case is focused on the family of malware known as Bladabindi and Jenxcus.
Assistant general counsel of Microsoft’s cybercrime-fighting Digital Crimes Unit Richard Domingues Boscovich said that the detection of the latest malware and its origin in Kuwait and Algeria points to the globalisation of cybercrime.
Redmond said that it will take days to determine the actual number of devices infected by the malware. “Microsoft has seen more than 7.4 million Bladabindi-Jenxcus detections over the past 12 months, which doesn’t account for detections by other anti-virus providers”, said Boscovich in a blog post.
According to the details provided by Microsoft, the malware gives dashboard access to its owners providing them with point-and-click options using which they can execute functions such as viewing victim’s screen in real-time, keystroke logging, password stealing, among other things.
The creators of the malware are said to have sold as many as 500 copies and used social media as their marketing platform. Boscovich also revealed that the malware creators posted videos on YouTube as well as created a Facebook page to market their warez.
“This is the third malware disruption by Microsoft since the November unveiling of the Microsoft Cybercrime Center—a center of excellence for advancing the global fight against cybercrime”, added Boscovich.
