Microsoft turns Rustock botnet case over to the FBI
updated 04:35 pm EDT, Thu September 22, 2011
FBI gets Microsoft evidence in spammer case
Microsoft is handing over all the evidence it gathered on the largest e-mail spam network to the FBI, hoping Cosma2k faces the appropriate punishment. According to CNET, Cosma2k is the ringleader of the Rustock botnet, which sends 30 billion messages a day at its peak. Said evidence includes hard drives seized at the Rustock raid back in March in its hosting facility in Kansas City, Missouri.
Earlier in September, Microsoft won a summary judgment against unnamed defendants that are said to run the network. Handing over the matter to the FBI is a length Microsoft hasn't gone to before, as it was happy with its civil court victories in previous cases.
Microsoft served Cosma2k with the complaint to get its summary judgment by taking out ads in two Russian newspapers. Copies were also sent to all the e-mail and instant-messaging address it found during its investigation.
Cosma2k paid for the servers that were tied to the IP addresses through a WebMoney online payment account or were transferred manually through an agent in Moscow, Microsoft revealed in its filing.
Rustock infected nearly 1.3 million computers across the globe, Microsoft estimates. With the raid, the company believes it has reduced the botnet by about 75 percent.
