On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation awarded nine Microsoft employees certificates for "Exceptional Service in the Public Interest," the agency announced. The recognition relates to Microsoft"s help in tracking down those responsible for the Mytob/Zotob worm.
The FBI launched an investigation 2005 to discover who was behind the Zotob attacks, which utilized a mass-mail attachment to copy itself into the Windows SYSTEM32 directory. From there, it would launch a process intended to preclude users from accessing certain websites, mainly from antivirus vendors.
Three individuals were arrested for launching the attacks, Farid Essebar and Achraf Bahloul in Morocco and Atilla Ekici in Turkey. Essebar, who is 19 years old, was sentenced to two years in jail earlier this month, with Bahloul receiving a one-year jail sentence. The FBI says charges against Ekici are still pending with Turkish authorities.
Microsoft senior counsel Brad Smith, who was among the nine honored Monday, said that the result of the collaboration between Microsoft and the FBI is an excellent example of how the public and private sectors can and should work together to fight cyber crime. Smith went on to say that "Microsoft will continue to support law enforcement worldwide to identify and hold responsible those who engage in cyber crime."