Microsoft takes on malware company

Microsoft has stepped up its battle against developers of malicious adware, launching legal action for the first time.

The company filed five lawsuits in Seattle last week, although it doesn’t know the names of the parties it is trying to sue. The lawsuits name businesses owned by unknown individuals.

“Although we don’t yet know the names of the specific individuals behind these acts, we are filing these cases to help uncover the people responsible and prevent them from continuing their exploits,” Microsoft associate general counsel Tim Cranton said on the company’s blog.

In the past, Microsoft has focused its anti-malware efforts on ad networks. But it hopes the filings will help stem the growth of maladvertising, a problem which has recently affected prominent sites such as the New York Times website.

Maladvertising poses malicious code as harmless online advertisements and can infect victims’ computers with malicious software.

“This work is vitally important because online advertising helps keep the internet up and running. It’s the fuel that drives search technologies and pays for free online services,” Cranton says.

Microsoft has previously launched action against companies suspected of click fraud and instant messaging spam.