What is a Botnet?

To understand what a botnet is, you must deconstruct the word into two parts. First, a bot is a type of malicious software or malware that infects your computer and directs it to take actions unknown to you. When infected with a bot, your computer can be used to carry out fraudulent or criminal activities, such as spreading viruses, launching attacks on legitimate computer networks and phishing for personal data such as usernames and passwords. It is important to be aware of this type of attack, and protect your personal information with the help of good antivirus software.

The hackers behind these attacks use bot-infected computers to avoid direct detection, and when they have infected many computers, they can link them into a rogue network used for criminal activity. Add the “net” in network to bot and you have a botnet. The location of bot-infected computers is unimportant to cyber criminals. The only key is that the infections allow large-scale networking to perform untraceable acts.

Whether your bot-infected computer has become part of a botnet or not, it can be used for a variety of activities without your knowledge. Bots run in the background of your computer and adopt names similar to your other operating programs so they are less likely to be detected.

As a botnet performs its work at the hands of those controlling it, individual users typically carry on with ordinary, daily computer tasks without knowing they’re involved in anything. Some signals might alert you to a bot infection, such as a significant slowdown in your computer’s operations, or unexplainable crashes, especially with a newer computer. These slowdowns and crashes stem in part from the malware running in the background and taking up your system’s resources. Other signs might include emails from friends indicating that your computer is sending out suspicious or spam-like messages.

Protecting your personal computer and legitimate computer networks from becoming part of botnets involves several approaches. First, you should routinely run antivirus and antimalware software on all computers, whether you’re a home user or part of a company network. Antivirus software will help screen for and remove viruses, while antimalware will seek out and eliminate malware that slips through your internet security. You should keep these security applications current using updates provided by the manufacturers because the creators of bots and botnets continuously find new ways to work around security software.

Software manufacturers also offer something called patches that allow you to protect your computer or company network when there are known weak points in a software application. These patches help maintain an additional protective wall against bots.
Computer users should take care while on the internet because bots can spread quickly through downloads of what you might think are movies or pictures. A recent bot infection circulated in the United States in the form of a fake pop-up warning indicating that the computer needed better security. By clicking on a button to clear a nonexistent virus, bot infections were downloaded to computers, even some that were part of firewalled company networks. Quick action to quarantine and remove such bots is essential.

Government crackdowns on botnets and the cyber criminals controlling them have led to several high-profile legal cases. In recent years, at least two botnets have been stopped with the help of digital crimes investigators, including one botnet that controlled more than 1 million infected computers.

At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™