Skip to main content
Back to the takedown index

ZeroAccess botnet disruption

December 2013, Malware and botnets
Led by Federal Bureau of Investigation

Extended pass entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026

What was taken down?

Coordinated sinkholing and infrastructure disruption targeting ZeroAccess C2 servers.

See what happened

What happened to the people?

No individual outcomes are recorded against this entry.
Group accounted for: Not applicable

See people and accountability

Did it stay down?

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

See what happened afterward

A coalition led by Europol, the FBI, and Microsoft disrupted the ZeroAccess click-fraud and cryptomining botnet.

Date
December 2013
Target
ZeroAccess, botnet
Activity
Malware and botnets
Operational lead
FBI
Partners
Europol, Microsoft DCU[1]
Jurisdiction
Not established
Outcome
Coordinated sinkholing and infrastructure disruption targeting ZeroAccess C2 servers.
Status
Completed
Legal mechanism
Coordinated law-enforcement/civil technical action; exact statutory basis by jurisdiction not fully public.
Group accounted for
Not applicable

No individual is named against this entry in the cited record. That is a gap in what has been published rather than a finding that nobody was involved.

Group accounted for: Not applicable

The cited record does not say how large the group was or whether everyone involved has been identified.

See the organizations and roles behind this action

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

Numbered markers throughout this entry link to the source that supports the claim beside them.

Official sources

  1. [1]
    ZeroAccess botnet disruption announcement

    Europol, December 5, 2013, Source grade P2

    Establishes the Europol/FBI/Microsoft coalition action against ZeroAccess.

    No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher.

Coverage note. Added from deep-research aggregation pass. Not independently re-verified source-by-source to the same standard as the original 38-incident core; source_quality capped at S2/P2 pending a dedicated verification pass.