Mariposa is the name of a malicious botnet. Dubbed Mariposa, this widespread malware campaign managed to infiltrate more than 13 million PCs and more than half of the world’s 1,000-largest companies.
Three men, who called themselves the “Nightmare Days Team” and dubbed their botnet projects “Mariposa,” were arrested by Spanish authorities in February 2010 after a yearlong investigation by law enforcement agencies and security software vendors Panda Security.
The Mariposa (the Spanish word for butterfly) botnet was shut down on Dec. 23, 2009 after operating largely unhindered for almost a year. Mariposa accessed more than 13 million PCs in all, making it one of the largest and most destructive botnets in history.
