Protecting Against Botnet Attacks
Malicious actors exploit the misconfiguration of many types of devices to launch a wide range of cyberattacks, from DDoS attacks to phishing. As more employees access corporate digital assets from personal devices and home networks, defending against Botnets has become a major challenge for network defenders.
A botnet is a network of compromised computers and other connected devices, or endpoints, that are infected with malware and controlled remotely by a third party. Once infected, the devices are then used to execute a variety of malicious activities, including data harvesting, phishing, launching DDoS attacks, crypto mining, spam, and more.
The first step in building a botnet involves hackers hacking and installing malware on a device, usually through social engineering techniques or security vulnerabilities. The bad actor, or bot herder, then scans the device for more vulnerable endpoints and infects them. The bot herder then connects the infected endpoints to their C&C server, allowing them to be controlled as one entity and execute an attack on behalf of the bad actor.
Some of the more famous examples of Botnets include Storm, which accounted for 90% of online bank fraud instances at its peak; Nitol, which infected Linux IoT devices such as printers and security cameras; and 3ve, which generated fake clicks on advertisements to generate revenue. While the main motivation of a Bot herder is often financial, they can also launch attacks for political or ideological reasons. Botnets are essential for executing DDoS attacks, which involve hundreds or even thousands of infected machines trying to access a server or other website at the same time, overwhelming it and knocking it offline.