Microsoft claims victory against Renocide malware

Microsoft has claimed that the latest version of its Malicious Software Removal Tool will take down one of the biggest malware families in circulation.

The malware, dubbed Renocide, is a worm with backdoor capabilities that communicates with its author via IRC, allowing the infected PC to be used as part of a botnet.

According to Microsoft data, Renocide was the fourth largest malware problem it detected, both in terms of total infections and detected files.

"The high tally of affected machines reflects Renocide's relative age; the botnet has been around since 2008 and has slowly but steadily increased its prevalence," said Marian Radu on the Microsoft Malware Protection Center blog.

"Our first detection dates back to the first half of 2008."

The malware is similar to the most common malware, Rimecud, while the second most common infection Taterf is an account stealer. The third-ranked threat was Sality, but Radu warned this was the most dangerous on the list because of its ability to infect other systems.