Microsoft has successfully persuaded a US court to take down a network of PCs that the firm believes to be spreading malware.
The software giant won a court order to deactivate 277 domain names allegedly relating to a botnet involving thousands of PCs worldwide infected with malicious code, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Microsoft filed its lawsuit with the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Monday. The case relates to a botnet called Waledac, accusing 27 unnamed defendants of breaking federal computer crime laws.
According to the WSJ, the move was designed to allow Microsoft to covertly sever communication channels to the botnet before its operators were able to reestablisth links.
The suspect web addresses are due to be turned off, after Microsoft began informing the website owners of its actions. The domain names can all reportedly be traced to China.
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