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Microsoft shuts down the infamous Necurs Botnet!

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that in collaboration with its industry parents, it has successfully shut down the famous botnet Necurs- responsible for distribution of most spam mails and malwares till date.


Microsoft in a blog post wrote that it has "significantly disrupted" the botnet by taking legal actions against it, after the struggle of eight long years of planning and tracking.

On March 5, with the United States court order, Microsoft was able to control the U. S network and infrastructure used by the botnet and stop it from distribution.

According to Tom Burt, Corporate Vice President, Customer Security & Trust, this action by Microsoft with the corporation of public-private partnership globally will be a big setback to hackers and cyber criminals and will prevent them from launching future attacks.

"This was accomplished by analyzing a technique used by Necurs to systematically generate new domains through an algorithm. We were then able to accurately predict over six million unique domains that would be created in the next 25 months,” Burt explained.

"Microsoft reported these domains to their respective registries in countries around the world so the websites can be blocked and thus prevented from becoming part of the Necurs infrastructure. By taking control of existing websites and inhibiting the ability to register new ones, we have significantly disrupted the botnet.”

The Necurs botnet was discovered in 2012 and it rose from there to the largest distributor of spam mails and malware. It is the largest spam bot till date affecting 9 million computers. It is used by criminals and hackers worldwide in launching attacks through mails and was responsible for spreading infamous attacks like GameOver Zeus trojan as well as the Dridex malware deployed by Evil Corp.

One Necurs infected computer could send 3.8 million spam emails to 40.6 million machines or individuals in just 58 days.

Microsoft is also working with various Internet service providers (ISPs) to clear the victims computers of any malware or strain linked to Necurs Botnet to completely eradicate the bottom and prevent any comebacks.

“This remediation effort is global in scale and involves collaboration with partners in industry, government and law enforcement via the Microsoft Cyber Threat Intelligence Program (CTIP),” added the post. “Through CTIP, Microsoft provides law enforcement, government Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs), ISPs and government agencies responsible for the enforcement of cyber laws and the protection of critical infrastructure with better insights into criminal cyber infrastructure located within their jurisdiction, as well as a view of compromised computers and victims impacted by such criminal infrastructure.”

Microsoft shuts down World's Largest Botnet Army


According to Microsoft, the company was part of a team that took down the global network of zombie bots. Necurs is one of the largest botnets globally and is also responsible for attacking more than 9 million computers. It is infamous for multiple criminal cyberattacks that include sending phishing emails like fake pharmaceuticals e-mail and stealing personal user data. The hackers use Botnets for taking over remote access of internet-connected systems to install malware and dangerous software. The hackers then use the installed malicious software to steal personal user data like user activity on the computer, send spams and fake e-mails, modify or delete user information without the knowledge of the owner.


The taking down of the Necurs happened after 8 years of consistent hard work and patience along with co-ordinated planning with 35 counties across the world, says Tom Burt, VP of customer security and trust, Microsoft. According to Tom, now that the botnet network is down, hackers will no longer be able to execute cyberattacks with the help of the botnet network.

About Botnet

Botnets are systems of the web-connected computers that run on self-automated commands. Hackers use this network of systems to send malware (malicious software) that allows them remote access to a computer. If the malware is installed or starts affecting the computer, hackers steal personal user information or use the infected device as a host to launch more cyberattacks by sending spams and malware. When the device is infected through malware, it's called Zombie.

Origin of Botnet Network

The news of the 1st Necurs attack appeared in 2012. According to experts, Necurs is said to have affected more than 9 million computers. Necurs used domain generation algorithms to grow its network. It turned arbitrary domain names into websites and used them to send spams or malware to the attacked computers. Fortunately, Microsoft and the team deciphered the algorithm pattern and predicted the next domain name that Necurs would have used to launch another cyberattack, and prevented the attack from happening.

Signs your computer might be affected

  • Systems run slow and programs load slowly 
  • Computer crashes frequently 
  • Suspicious filling up of storage 
  • Your account sends spam emails to your contacts