Approximately 500m PCs become Tainted Worldwide Annually; FBI

According to Assistant Director Joseph Demarest of Cyber Division of Federal Bureau of Investigation, industrial figures indicate that because of botnets, U.S. victims suffered losses of more than $9bn, while Internet users worldwide suffered losses of more than $110bn. Every year infections taint about 500m PCs worldwide resulting in 18 victims at every second, he adds. Help Net Security published this dated July 17, 2014.

Further Demarest says that cyber-criminals' activities impact businesses, financial institutions, governments, universities, private citizens, defense contractors, and hospitals that are then exploited for launching DDoS assaults; utilized for spam and proxy operations, for distributing malware, clandestinely collecting intelligence, launching assaults on critical servers; as well as used as arsenals during campaigns surrounding ideologies.

Referring to botnet operators' malicious task of infecting and amassing users' PCs for building spam spewing networks, Demarest boasts of FBI's collaboration with private sector alliances and law enforcement that effectively disrupted huge botnets.

According to him, FBI has by now started developing new methodologies for aiding in lessening growing botnet assaults, however, contends that there must be more convergence of agencies of law enforcement with both private and public participants for tackling the problem.

Elsewhere Demarest states that in general, FBI focuses on eliminating, lessening and stopping online crime via identifying the highly prominent criminals and then dousing the threat. The Bureau's success, he says, is possible solely via coordination between all the present and upcoming agents of its Cyber Division. Hotforsecurity.com published this dated July 17, 2014.

And through the above collaborative process, Demarest states FBI plans for executing comprehensive and aggressive policies for the threat's mitigation to be attained via joint probes as well as partnering with law enforcement, academia, industry and private entities for necessary operations.

Here Demarest outlines their latest success in taking down the Gameover ZeuS by leading a global operation during June 2014.

However, the security industry wasn't much optimistic regarding the aftermath of Gameover ZeuS takedown. It warned that henceforth botnet herders could prepare more perilous assault techniques, and that proved right, July 11, 2014, the day Gameover ZeuS network showed up with a more resilient edition.

» SPAMfighter News - 7/29/2014