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Kaspersky Lab, Kyrus Tech and Microsoft Disable the Hlux/Kelihos Botnet

Posted: 06 Oct 2011 11:52 AM PDT

In their ongoing assault against botnet operators and the hosting companies that allow anonymous domain registrations which facilitate them, Kaspersky Lab, Microsoft and Kyrus Tech have successfully worked together to take out the Kelihos botnet, originally named Hlux by Kaspersky Lab. Kelihos was used for delivering billions of spam messages, stealing personal data, performing DDoS attacks and many other criminal activities, via an estimated 40,000 computers. Microsoft has also taken legal action against 24 individuals in connection with the infrastructure behind the botnet, in a civil case that enabled the takedown of the domains being used to command and control the botnet. Microsoft's legal action included declarations submitted to court, to which contributions were made by Kaspersky Lab, and also a direct declaration from Kyrus Tech, providing detailed information and evidence regarding the Kelihos botnet. Kaspersky Lab has played a pivotal role in taking down the botnet, tracking it since the beginning of 2011, when it started collaborating with Microsoft in tackling Kelihos, including sharing its live botnet tracking system with the US company. Kaspersky Lab has also ensured that the botnet cannot be controlled anymore, and continues to make sure that this is the case. Its specialists reversed-engineered the [...]