World's third largest botnet shut down by Fireeye

A HUGE BOTNET that accounted for 18 per cent of the world's spam email has been shut down, security firm Fireeye has claimed.

Dubbed Grum, the botnet was controlled from servers in Panama, Russia and Ukraine. However, following a joint effort by Fireeye, spam-tracking service Spamhaus and local internet service providers (ISPs), the illegal network was shut down on Wednesday.

"Grum's takedown resulted from the efforts of many individuals," Fireeye security researcher Atif Mushtaq said in a blog post.

"This collaboration is sending a strong message to all the spammers: stop sending us spam. We don't need your cheap Viagra or fake Rolex."

According to Fireeye, Grum was the world's third largest botnet spitting out around 18 billion spam messages a day.

Mushtaq highlighted how successfully shutting down the botnet's servers proves how companies and government agencies can work together to fight cyber crime.

"When the appropriate channels are used, even ISPs within Russia and Ukraine can be pressured to end their cooperation with bot herders. There are no longer any safe havens," Mushtaq wrote.

"Most of the spam botnets that used to keep their [command and control servers] in the USA and Europe have moved to countries like Panama, Russia, and Ukraine thinking that no one can touch them in these comfort zones. We have proven them wrong." µ