By JORDAN ROBERTSON - AP Technology Writer - Associated Press
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The sudden takedown of an Internet provider helping spread a promiscuous piece of malicious software has cut off criminals from possibly millions of personal computers under their control.
But it appears to have been short-lived.
Less than a day after the service was unplugged from the Internet, security researchers said Wednesday it apparently had found a way to get back online, and criminals were reconnecting with their machines.
Cisco Systems Inc. said as many as 25 percent of the world's computers infected with the "ZeuS" malware — which is mostly used to steal online banking usernames and passwords — were temporarily unavailable to their controllers because of the takedown.