Microsoft Corp. launched what it hopes will be the most successful private effort to date to crack down on cybercrime by moving to disrupt communications channels between hackers and infected PCs.
The operation, which began Monday under an order issued by a federal court in Nevada, targeted traffic involving malicious software known as Bladabindi and Jenxcus, which Microsoft said work in similar ways and were written and distributed by developers in Kuwait and Algeria.
It is the first high-profile case involving malware written by developers outside of Eastern Europe, according to Richard Domingues Boscovich, assistant general counsel of Microsoft's cybercrime-fighting Digital Crimes Unit.