Microsoft claims efforts to combat online banking fraud successful

Microsoft Corp has claimed a victory in efforts to combat online banking fraud, saying it had confiscated several servers used to steal login names and passwords, disrupting some of the world’s most sophisticated cybercrime rings.

The software maker said its cybercrime investigation group also took legal and technical actions to fight notorious criminals who infect computers with a prevalent malicious software known as Zeus. By recruiting computers into networks called botnets, Zeus logs the online activity of infected machines, providing criminals with credentials to access financial accounts.

“We’ve disrupted a critical source of money-making for digital fraudsters and cyber thieves, while gaining important information to help identify those responsible and better protect victims,” said Richard Boscovich, senior attorney for the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, which handled the investigation in collaboration with the financial industry.