this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2023
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156
FBI operation tricked thousands of computers infected by Qakbot into uninstalling the malware (techcrunch.com)
submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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FBI operation tricked thousands of computers infected by Qakbot into uninstalling the malware::The U.S. government dismantled the infrastructure of the notorious Qakbot malware, which caused millions of dollars of damage.

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[–] RedditWanderer@lemmy.world 50 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Tldr bot cut out the best part:

To dismantle the botnet, the FBI gained lawful access to Qakbot’s infrastructure and redirected Qakbot traffic to FBI-controlled servers, which instructed infected computers to download an uninstaller file. This uninstaller was created by law enforcement to untether the victims’ computers from the Qakbot botnet, preventing further installation of malware through Qakbot.

During this operation, named “Operation Duck Hunt,” the FBI said it recovered the stolen credentials — including email addresses and passwords — of more than 6.5 million victims, adding that its international partners identified “millions more.”

The FBI also announced the seizure of 52 servers, which it said would “permanently dismantle” the botnet.

[–] amp@sh.itjust.works 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm sure they quitely deleted those stolen credentials afterwards...

[–] RedditWanderer@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Legally obtained sounds like they subpoena'd someone's password to get in

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