What is a Botnet?
A botnet is a group of malware-infected computers, which are used by a hacker or cybercriminal to launch an attack. These attacks are carried out for a variety of purposes. They may include DDoS, sabotage, or defrauding users.
The primary purpose of a botnet is to infect as many internet-connected devices as possible. This allows the infected machines to be used for brute force and DDoS attacks, crypto mining, and monitoring user activity.
Cybercriminals have the capability to infect millions of machines with a single malware infection. Botnets are used to carry out a variety of attacks and can cause serious damage to businesses. In some cases, botnets can also cause data leaks.
Botnets are typically operated by organized gangs of online criminals. They may be run on domains, IRC channels, or peer-to-peer networks.
The most damaging botnet attacks have been carried out against organizations around the world. For instance, the Mirai botnet was responsible for some of the most devastating DDoS attacks.
Botnets have evolved from simple spamming operations to more sophisticated attacks. These attacks are able to bring down entire servers and networks, and they can be prevented by focusing on the source of the commands.
The origin of a botnet is usually a “bot herder”. The bot herder runs the infrastructure of the network. He or she receives commands from clients, sends them to the infected bot devices, and reports back to the C&C server with the results.