What Is Botnet Malware?
Botnet is a type of malware that infects multiple computers or devices, allowing cyber criminals to conduct cyber attacks. These cyber threats have become one of the largest concerns in cybersecurity today.
Bots are controlled by a cybercriminal known as a bot herder, who uses these infected computers to launch phishing, scamming and nefarious online attacks. They can also be used to gather credentials, execute CPU-intensive tasks and spread harmful software.
The number of infected computers in a botnet determines the size of the network and its potential impact. To maximize their ability to disrupt web traffic, cybercriminals often employ multiple bots under a single command.
Infecting Devices
Bot herders infect devices such as routers, security cameras, DVRs and mobile phones with malware that allows them to connect to the internet. This hardware is especially vulnerable to attack since it may not have strong security features, and its vulnerabilities are often not detected by anti-virus programs.
Using Bots for DDoS
The most popular way bot herders use bots is to launch DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks. These attacks can disrupt a target’s Internet service, causing websites to go down or crash.
How Bots Are Controlled
Bot herders control their botnets through a variety of different methods, including centralized and peer-to-peer networks. The centralized model involves a single C&C server that sends commands to all of the infected machines via a network protocol such as Internet Relay Chat (IRC). In contrast, P2P botnets operate on a more decentralized system. This gives the attacker greater control over infected devices, but it can be more difficult to set up and operate.