Microsoft is offering a substantial cash incentive, $250,000, for any information that will lead to the identification, arrest and criminal conviction of the cybercriminals behind the Rustock malware and botnet.
In March 2011, the Redmond company, in collaboration with third-party security experts and law enforcement agencies, was successful in
taking down the giant spam network built from zombie computers worldwide infected with Rustock.
Estimates put the number of zombie PCs under the control of Rustock cybercriminals to in excess of 1 million. At its peak, the Rustock botnet was capable of producing and sending a veritable flood of unsolicited messages, more than 30 billion spam mails per day.
Once it killed the botnet, Microsoft’s focus shifted to efforts designed to bring the people behind Rustock to justice.
