Microsoft wins court approval to topple "botnet": report

Software giant Microsoft Corp has won a U.S. court approval to deactivate a global network of computers that the company accused of spreading spam and harmful computer codes, the Wall Street Journal said.

A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, granted a request by Microsoft to deactivate 277 Internet domains, which the software maker said is linked to a "botnet," the paper said.

A botnet is an army of infected computers that hackers can control from a central machine.

The company aims to secretly sever communications channels to the botnet before its operators can re-establish links to the network, the paper said.

Microsoft on Monday filed a suit that targets a botnet identified as Waledac, the paper said.

Judge Brinkema's order required VeriSign Inc, an Internet security and naming services provider, to temporarily turn off the suspect Internet addresses, the paper said. reuters.com