Microsoft announces legal action against Lumma Stealer

Microsoft’s (MSFT) Digital Crimes Unit and international partners are disrupting the tool used to “indiscriminately steal sensitive personal and organizational information” to facilitate cybercrime, the company said in a blog post. On Tuesday, May 13, Microsoft’s DCU filed a legal action against Lumma Stealer, which is the favored info-stealing malware used by hundreds of cyber threat actors. Lumma steals passwords, credit cards, bank accounts, and cryptocurrency wallets and has enabled criminals to hold schools for ransom, empty bank accounts, and disrupt critical services, it said. “Via a court order granted in the United States District Court of the Northern District of Georgia, Microsoft’s DCU seized and facilitated the takedown, suspension, and blocking of approximately 2,300 malicious domains that formed the backbone of Lumma’s infrastructure. The Department of Justice simultaneously seized the central command structure for Lumma and disrupted the marketplaces where the tool was sold to other cybercriminals. Europol’s European Cybercrime Center and Japan’s Cybercrime Control Center facilitated the suspension of locally based Lumma infrastructure.” Microsoft added: “Disrupting the tools cybercriminals frequently use can create a significant and lasting impact on cybercrime, as rebuilding malicious infrastructure and sourcing new exploit tools takes time and costs money. By severing access to mechanisms cybercriminals use, such as Lumma, we can significantly disrupt the operations of countless malicious actors through a single action.”