4/17/2021 0 Comments Free Microsoft Hacker Protection
On Monday, Microsoft announced actions against Trickbot, a Russian botnet thats infected more than a million computers since 2016 and thats behind scores of ransomware attacks.Cybersecurity experts have raised concerns about ransomware attacks casting doubt on election results.
While a ransomware attack wouldnt change votes and could only lock up machines, the chaos stirred by a cyberattack could create uncertainty about the outcome of the results. Election officials in most states have offline backup measures in the event of a ransomware attack, but have a harder time tackling the disinformation that comes with getting hacked. Ransomware attacks are also a concern for counties because they dont have many cybersecurity resources. Trickbot, the worlds largest botnet, is believed to be behind last months ransomware attack on Universal Health Services, which locked up computers in hundreds of hospitals in the US. Trickbot hasnt affected any election infrastructure yet, and US officials have noted that there havent been significant cyberattacks against the US election, but the takedown announced Monday closes off a powerful tool that Russian hackers couldve used to interfere with the election. The cybersecurity arm of the Department of Homeland Security expressed its gratitude for the work by Microsoft and its partners to disrupt the operation. The types of harmful activities enabled by TrickBot, including ransomware attacks, are clearly on the rise in the U.S. I firmly believe that were on the verge of a global emergency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director Chris Krebs said in a statement. ![]() How the TrickBot takedown went down The takedown came about through a partnership between Microsoft and cybersecurity companies Symantec, ESET, Black Lotus Labs, NTT and FS-ISAC. Tech companies arent the only ones who had their sights set on Trickbot -- the Washington Post reported on Oct. US military launched cyberattacks against Trickbot. Rather than using digital measures to take down the botnet, Microsoft went the legal route. Microsoft Hacker Protection Code For MaliciousThe company filed a lawsuit in Virginia arguing that Trickbot violated Microsofts copyrights by using its software code for malicious purposes. Microsoft has used this argument to take down other hacking operations in the past, but Trickbot is the largest one yet. The court granted an order to allow Microsoft to disable IP addresses and servers used by Trickbot, and also block them from buying more servers. For years, the botnet had been particularly difficult to stop because it had a vast network of backups it could use. ![]() Trying to disrupt this elusive threat is very challenging as it has various fallback mechanisms, and its interconnection with other highly active cybercriminal actors in the underground makes the overall operation extremely complex, Jean-ian Boutin, head of threat research at ESET, said in a statement. The companies behind the takedown dont expect the operators behind the worlds largest botnet to stay offline, and said they would continue taking legal actions if it rises again. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion.
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