Companies, Governments Fight To Stay Ahead Of Cybercrime

Microsoft announced that it has recently freed 4.7 million infected personal computers from the control of cyber criminals as part of a large-scale digital crime-fighting operation.  The operation was initiated on June 30, 2014 pursuant to a federal court order and was carried out by Microsoft’s Internal Digital Crimes Unit.

            According to the company, another 4.7 million computers have also been identified as infected and under the control of cyber criminals.  Many of these machines are located in India, Pakistan, Egypt, Algeria, and Brazil.  Brazil in particular has been affected by cybercrime of late with security researchers last week uncovering a $3.75 billion cybercrime operation involving Brazilian banks.

            On the heels of Microsoft’s announcement, top diplomats from the United States and China have confirmed that the two nations are engaging in “frank” discussions regarding internet security.  This comes in the wake of the U.S. issuing indictments against five Chinese military officers for hacking.  Despite this setback, the two nations have pressed forward in talks, with China’s Foreign Policy Chief Yang Jiechi describing cyber theft as a “common threat and challenge facing all countries.”