Microsoft attempts takedown of global criminal botnet

Microsoft has announced legal action seeking to disrupt a major cybercrime digital network (Michel Spingler/AP)

Microsoft has announced legal action seeking to disrupt a major cybercrime digital network that uses more than a million zombie computers to loot bank accounts and spread ransomware, which experts consider a major threat to the US presidential election.

The operation to knock offline the command-and-control servers for a global botnet that uses an infrastructure known as Trickbot to infect computers with malware was initiated on Monday.