Microsoft Settles Lawsuit Over Chinese Site That Hosted Nitol Botnet

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) says it has settled a legal case against China’s 3322.org (recently rebranded as PubYun), which was identified as a major malware hub – and even a host for the Nitol botnet. No financial damages seem to have been involved, according to the short piece that the AP put together from a Microsoft source. The crux of the deal is that 3322 and its owner, Peng Yong, have agreed to work together with Microsoft and Chinese authorities to weed out the cybercriminals who are using the hosting service.

This diversion of illegal activity on 3322 forms an effective sinkhole, filtering the malware-oriented activity towards Chinese authorities who can use it to piece together criminal evidence.

Malware is a headache for Microsoft, creating a viral effect whereby infected computers can themselves serve unwittingly as botnets, distributing yet more viruses or being harnessed for DDoS attacks on various websites.

The legal action was instigated by Microsoft last month in the US – though 3322 appears to be based in Shanghai, China. In its initial court filings, a Microsoft representative detailed how the 3322-powered malware was even being found on some low-end brand-new computers, such as several made by fakesters Hedy. Microsoft explained last month:

In short, 3322.org is a major hub of illegal internet activity, used by criminals every minute of every day to pump malware and instructions to the computers of innocent people worldwide.

Microsoft will be hoping that 3322 is no longer such a criminal underworld, leaving the computer giant to go play whack-a-mole wherever the malware peddlers turn up next.

[Source: AP via HuffPo]