For the first time, a major botnet take-down has included direct victim notification that warns users their PCs are infected and shows them how to scrub clean their machines. Microsoft and Symantec co-opted Bamital’s communication mechanism to add a new twist to the take down. Each victim is warned when they click on a bogus search result generated by the malware. The ploy, called “search hijacking,” provided Bamital operators with millions in revenue from “click fraud” schemes, where miscreants artificially pump up the clicks on an online advertising network.”]