What is a Botnet?
Botnets are a type of malware that are designed to automatically automate tasks, including DDoS attacks and spam email. They also allow criminals to conduct malicious activities. While they can affect users directly, they can also impact companies and social services indirectly.
A botnet consists of a number of networked computers that are infected with malware. These bots are typically controlled by a bot herder, who controls the infrastructure and carries out the attacks.
Once a bot has been infected, it will gather user data and can execute brute force and DDoS attacks. It may also be used for hidden tasks.
In addition to stealing data, attackers often use bots to send out e-mail spam. These messages are a form of advertising, which can be annoying. Some bots even have self-spreading functionality.
Bot herders may rent out segments of the botnet for a fee. They can then sell these segments on the Dark Web. This can be lucrative business.
The size of a botnet can vary dramatically. While there are no hard numbers, the growth of internet use over the past 15 years has led to an increase in the number of infected devices.
As a result, the number of botnets has also grown. They can now control hundreds of thousands of devices. To prevent these cyber attacks, businesses should implement stricter authentication methods, such as a hard-to-crack password, employee awareness training, and good cybersecurity hygiene.
There are two main types of botnets. A P2P botnet is a decentralized network of infected devices that communicate via random IP addresses. Alternatively, a client-server botnet uses a centralized command and control (C&C) server to relay commands to the infected devices.