Microsoft is launching a new strategy against criminal hackers by bringing together security engineers, experts and lawyers trained in fighting software pirates under one roof at its new Cybercrime Center. The Cybercrime Center will tackle online crimes, including those associated with malware, botnets, intellectual property theft and technology-facilitated child exploitation.

"The Microsoft Cybercrime Center is where our experts come together with customers and partners to focus on one thing: keeping people safe online," said David Finn, associate general counsel of the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit. "By combining sophisticated tools and technology with the right skills and new perspectives, we can make the Internet safer for everyone."

The Cybercrime Center is located on Microsoft?s campus in Redmond, Wash. The facility houses Microsoft technologies that allow the team to visualize and identify global cyberthreats developing in real time, including SitePrint, which allows the mapping of online organized crime networks; PhotoDNA, an anti-child-pornography technology; cyberforensics, a new investigative capability that detects global cybercrime, including online fraud and identity theft; and cyberthreat intelligence from Microsoft's botnet takedown operations.



The Cybercrime Center includes a separate and secure location for Microsoft's third-party partners, allowing cybersecurity experts from around the world to work in the facility with Microsoft's experts for an indefinite period of time.