After a concerted effort by IT security firms, a network of websites used by cyber criminals to create Trojans has been shut down. The criminals in question offered hackers the chance to generate custom designed Trojans that can foil traditional security solutions, and also offered a system for monitoring the status of the infections caused.

The websites were discovered after Panda Software recently detected a new trojan, called Trj/Briz.A, which was previously unknown to security companies. The firm conducted an in-depth analysis of this trojan's code, detailed to assist in scams, leading to the trojan's termination. Given the "seriousness and sophistication of the attack," Panda contacted RSA Cyota's 24/7 Anti-Fraud Command Center, which helped to disable the web pages selling malware by contacting the ISPs hosting the site and identifying them as a source of these illicit trojan services.

Due to this combined effort, three websites selling trojans were shut down by the ISPs hosting them, as well as two others on which hackers found information about infections their malware cause. Luis Corrons, director of PandaLabs: "The collaboration between RSA Security and Panda Software has been key to rapidly dismantling these dangerous websites for creating and selling targeted malware. Thanks to this, it has been possible to make the necessary changes to make all sites involved inaccessible."