BotNet News

A botnet is a collection of infected devices working together to carry out an attacker’s goals. Threat actors use botnets to launch cyberattacks, spam users and devices with malicious code, steal personal information, mine cryptocurrency, spoof online banking or credit cards, perform distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS), or sell access to the botnet for other criminals.

Bots are infected with malware that monitors for instructions from a central command and control (C&C) server. The C&C server can be configured to communicate via Internet Relay Chat (IRC), HTTP, and other methods. Bots are often polymorphic, meaning they change their function and appearance to avoid detection and evade security software.

In the first stage of a typical botnet attack, the malware spreads itself to as many network-connected machines as possible. It can do so by leveraging vulnerabilities in web browsers and other applications. Threat actors may also use drive-by downloads to infect devices. Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as routers, are a favorite target for these kinds of attacks. A famous example is Mirai, which spreads by scanning IoT devices for open ports or using default passwords and then infects them with botnet malware.

The bots then wait for the instructions from the C&C server. These instructions can take the form of a request for money or requests to perform an automated attack. A botnet is usually controlled by a bot herder, who has a variety of reasons for creating one, including cryptojacking, financial and sensitive information theft, sabotage (taking services and sites offline), and even activism and espionage.