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A12 technology
Wednesday 14 OctOber 2020
Microsoft attempts takedown of global criminal botnet

By FRANK BAJAK tecture lets it be used as a
AP Technology Writer delivery mechanism for a
Microsoft announced legal wide array of criminal ac-
action Monday seeking to tivity.
disrupt a major cybercrime It began mostly as a so-
digital network that uses called banking trojan that
more than 1 million zombie attempts to steal creden-
computers to loot bank ac- tials from online bank ac-
counts and spread ransom- count so criminals can
ware, which experts con- fraudulently transfer cash.
sider a major threat to the But recently, researchers
U.S. presidential election. have noted a rise in Trick-
The operation to knock bot's use in ransomware at-
offline command-and- tacks targeting everything
control servers for a global from municipal and state
botnet that uses an infra- governments to school dis-
structure known as Trickbot tricts and hospitals.
to infect computers with A woman walks in front of the Microsoft stand during the Cybersecurity Conference in Lille, Alex Holden, founder of
malware was initiated with northern France, Wednesday Jan. 29, 2020. Milwaukee-based Hold Se-
a court order Microsoft ob- Associated Press curity, tracks Trickbot's op-
tained in Virginia federal take down the botnet serv- thorizes U.S. cyberwarriors One of the biggest report- erators closely and said the
court on Oct. 6. Microsoft ers is laudable, it's not apt to engage hostile hackers ed victims of ransomware reported Cybercom disrup-
argued that the crime net- to be successful because in cyberspace and disrupt sowed by Trickbot was the tion — involving efforts to
work is abusing its trade- too many won't comply. their operations with code, hospital chain Universal confuse its configuration
mark. Paul Vixie of Farsight Secu- something Cybercom did Health Services, which said through code injections —
"It is very hard to tell how rity said via email "experi- against Russian misinforma- all 250 of its U.S. facilities succeeded in temporarily
effective it will be but we ence tells me it won't scale tion jockeys during U.S. mid- were hobbled in an attack breaking down communi-
are confident it will have -- there are too many IP's term elections in 2018.Cre- last month that forced doc- cations between com-
a very long-lasting effect," behind uncooperative na- ated in 2016 and used by tors and nurses to resort to mand-and-control servers
said Jean-Ian Boutin, head tional borders." a loose consortium of Rus- paper and pencil. and most of the bots.
of threat research at ESET, The announcement follows sian-speaking cybercrimi- U.S. Department of Home- "But that's hardly a decisive
one of several cybersecuri- a Washington Post report nals, Trickbot is a digital land Security officials list victory," he said, adding
ty firms that partnered with Friday of a major — but superstructure for sowing ransomware as a major that the botnet rebounded
Microsoft to map the com- ultimately unsuccessful — malware in the computers threat to the Nov. 3 presi- with new victims and ran-
mand-and-control servers. effort by U.S. Cyber Com- of unwitting individuals and dential election. They fear somware.
"We're sure that they are mand to dismantle Trickbot websites. In recent months, an attack could freeze up The disruption — in two
going to notice and it will beginning last month with its operators have been in- state or local voter regis- waves that began Sept. 22
be hard for them to get direct attacks rather than creasingly renting it out to tration systems, disrupting — was first reported by cy-
back to the state that the asking online services to other criminals who have voting, or knock out result- bersecurity journalist Bryan
botnet was in." deny hosting to domains used it to sow ransomware, reporting websites. Krebs.
Cybersecurity experts said used by command-and- which encrypts data on Trickbot is a particularly The Associated Press could
that while Microsoft's use control servers. target networks — crippling robust internet nuisance. not immediately confirm
of a U.S. court order to per- A U.S. policy called "per- them until the victims pay Called "malware-as a ser- the reported Cybercom
suade internet providers to sistent engagement" au- up. vice," its modular archi- involvement.q

NASA moon-landing tech hitches ride to space on Bezos rocket

By MARCIA DUNN booster. The sensors and ing test. Led by Amazon
AP Aerospace Writer computer — tested during founder Bezos, Washington
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) the booster's descent and state-based Blue Origin is
— Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin touchdown — will hitch an- leading a team of com-
space company launched other suborbital ride with panies to develop a lu-
a New Shepard rocket for a Blue Origin. nar lander for astronauts.
seventh time from a remote It's all part of NASA's Artemis Elon Musk's SpaceX is also
corner of Texas on Tuesday, program, which aims to put working on a lander, as is
testing new lunar-landing the first woman and next Alabama-based Dynetics.
technology for NASA that man on the moon by 2024, NASA chose three teams in
could help put astronauts a deadline imposed by the this early phase of the Arte-
back on the moon. White House. mis moon-landing program
The entire flight — barely "Using New Shepard to sim- to increase the chances of
skimming space with a In this image from video made available by Blue Origin, the ulate landing on the Moon getting astronauts to the
peak altitude of 66 miles New Shepard rocket lifts off from its launchpad in Texas, to test is an exciting precursor to lunar surface by the end of
new lunar-landing technology for NASA that could help put
(106 kilometers) — lasted astronauts back on the moon by 2024. what the Artemis program 2024.
just 10 minutes. The booster Associated Press will bring to America," Blue Delayed three weeks by
landed vertically back at Origin's chief executive Bob technical issues, this was
the launch complex after ing 1.2 million tomato seeds themed drawings that will Smith said in a statement. the 13th New Shepard flight
liftoff, and the capsule fol- that will be distributed to be returned to the young Texas-based Southwest Re- for Blue Origin.
lowed, parachuting onto schoolchildren around the senders. search Institute had a mag- The first was in 2015. The
the desert floor. U.S. and Canada, and tens NASA's navigation equip- netic asteroid-sampling rocket is named for the first
The capsule carried sci- of thousands of children's ment for future moon land- experiment on board, as American in space, Alan
ence experiments, includ- postcards with space- ings was located on the well as a mini rocket-fuel- Shepard.q