The District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order “enabling us last week to take control of 99 websites the group uses to conduct its hacking operations so the sites can no longer be used to execute attacks,” Burt said.
Burt explained that Phosphorus created authentic looking websites with addresses – such as outlook -verify.net, yahoo-verify.net, verification-live.com and myaccount-services.net – to trick users into clicking on a link.
The group attacked businesses and government agencies to steal sensitive information, the blog added. In addition, the site targeted activists and journalists – especially those involved with issues related to the middle East, Burt added.
Microsoft worked closely with other technology companies, including Yahoo, to share threat information and stop attacks, Burt also said, noting that Microsoft in the process collected data needed for its lawsuit against Phosphorous that resulted in the court order.
