Authorities Turn Sality’s P2P Network Against Itself, Cutting Off New Malware Payloads

Authorities Turn Sality's P2P Network Against Itself, Cutting Off New Malware Payloads Ravie LakshmananSep 02, 2026Malware / Cybercrime The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday announced the takedown of a long-standing peer-to-peer (P2P) botnet known as Sality as part of a coordinated law enforcement operation. The effort was undertaken on August 31, 2026, by authorities from the U.S., Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, in collaboration with private industry partners CrowdStrike and the Shadowserver Foundation. To that end, a peer-to-peer sinkhole operation was carried out to eliminate the threat. In tandem, Sality-linked domains have been seized in the U.S. and Europe. "Cybercriminals, botnets, and malware are a clear and present danger to our nation's security and economy," said First Assistant United…