What is a Botnet?
A Botnet is a network of infected devices that are controlled by malware to carry out cyber attacks for profit. Unlike single malware attacks, Botnets involve hundreds, thousands, or even millions of devices at once, creating an exponential threat that is far more difficult to counter. This makes Botnets a serious concern for organizations, especially because they often use these attacks to exploit IoT (Internet of Things) devices, which have limited security features and offer attackers a large attack surface.
The attackers that run Botnets are known as bot herders, and they use a variety of techniques to hack into computers and IoT devices, install malware, and connect them to a central command and control server. These servers, or C&C servers, serve up instructions for the bots to carry out various attacks.
Once the malware is in place, the bots are ready to launch automated attacks, including phishing, DDOS, spam, crypto mining, and password attacks. They can also be used to encrypt data, steal money from point-of-sale systems, and more.
Some botnets use a traditional client-server model, where each infected device connects to a centralized repository like a web domain or Internet relay chat (IRC) channel to receive updates. This centralized approach is easier to manage, but it’s still vulnerable since only one point of failure — the bot herder — needs to be identified and disrupted for the entire botnet to go offline. More recently, attackers have been switching to a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) model, where each bot communicates with other bots to spread information and commands. This makes removing bots harder, but it’s also more effective for attackers because it reduces the amount of time it takes to get their botnet back online after taking down their C&C servers.