Microsoft says 394,000 Windows computers infected by Lumma malware globally
Windows 11 operating system logo is displayed on a laptop screen for illustration photo.
Beata Zawrzel | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Microsoft said Wednesday that it broke down the Lumma Stealer malware project with the help of law enforcement officials across the globe.
The tech giant said in a blog post that its digital crimes unit discovered over 394,000 Windows computers were infected by the Lumma malware worldwide between March 16 through May 16.
The Lumma malware was a favorite hacking tool used by bad actors, Microsoft said in the post. Hackers used the malware to steal passwords, credit cards, bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets.
Microsoft said its digital crimes unit was able to dismantle the web domains underpinning Lumma’s infrastructure with the help of a court order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The U.S. Department of Justice then took control of Lumma’s “central command structure” and squashed the online marketplaces where bad actors purchased the malware.
The cybercrime control center of Japan “facilitated the suspension of locally based Lumma infrastructure,” the blog post said.
“Working with law enforcement and industry partners, we have severed communications between the malicious tool and victims,” Microsoft said in the post. “Moreover, more than 1,300 domains seized by or transferred to Microsoft, including 300 domains actioned by law enforcement with the support of Europol, will be redirected to Microsoft sinkholes.”
Microsoft said that other tech companies like Cloudflare, Bitsight and Lumen also helped break down the Lumma malware ecosystem.
Hackers have been buying the Lumma malware via underground online forums since at least 2022, all while developers were “continually improving its capabilities,” the blog post said.
The malware has become the “go-to tool for cybercriminals and online threat actors” because it’s easy to spread and break through some security defenses with the right programming, the company said.
In one example of how criminals used Lumma, Microsoft pointed to a March 2025 phishing campaign in which bad actors misled people into believing they were part of the Booking.com online travel service.
These cyber criminals used the Lumma malware to carry out their financial crimes in this scheme, the company said.
Additionally, Microsoft said that hackers have used the Lumma to attack online gaming communities and education systems, while other cybersecurity companies have noted that the malware has been used in cyber attacks targeting manufacturing, logistics, healthcare and other related critical infrastructure.
WATCH: Palo Alto Networks shares drop 4% despite earnings beat.
The artificial intelligence boom has sent energy demand soaring. Some of the supercomputers sucking up all that power are helping to find new energy sources.
Fusion energy is the process of forcing two hydrogen atoms to combine and form one helium atom, which releases huge amounts of power. It uses a stellarator, a type of fusion reactor invented in the 1950’s that produces heat.
Until now, the technology was too difficult to deploy commercially.
But this old concept has brand new potential. Type One Energy, a startup based in Tennessee, claims to have proven that fusion energy will be able to produce electricity in the next decade.
“It’s going to create heat that’s going to boil water, make steam, run a turbine and put fusion electrons on the power grid on a 24/7 reliable basis,” said Type One Christofer Mowry.
AI has made it all practical.
“Things have really accelerated remarkably over the last five or six years,” Mowry said. “The supercomputers have allowed industry, academia and large institutions to develop now and actually test at large scale the science machines that demonstrate the process.”
Dozens of other companies are working on different approaches to fusion energy, but Mowry said Type One is so far the only one with the proven stellarator technology to implement at existing power plants. It will soon be tested with the Tennessee Valley Authority.
TDK Ventures is betting that Mowry is right.
“With Type One Energy solutions, we expect outsized return potential,” said Nicola Sauvage, president of TDK Ventures. “Fusion is no longer science fiction, and Type One Energy’s technology is catching up fast to the vision of this low-cost, continuous green energy.”
Type One is also backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Centaurus Capital, GD1, Foxglove Capital, and SeaX Ventures, and has raised a total of $82.4 million.
Fusion energy is different from nuclear power, and there’s no risk of a nuclear accident. The power source has no long-term radioactive waste, and, according to Mowry, can’t be weaponized.
But for handling AI, it could be a critical solution. Fusion energy can be deployed anywhere, whether it’s next to a data center or near a large industrial park that needs clean, reliable energy.
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