A bot is a form of malware that destroys a device and allows the attacker to remotely manipulate it.
A botnet is a collection of malware-infected computers controlled by a single attacker identified as the "hacker." A bot is a single computer that is under the guidance of the hacker. The attacking party will order any device on its botnet to carry out an organized illegal activity from a single central location.
The size of a botnet helps an attacker to carry out large-scale acts that would have been difficult for viruses before. Infected computers will receive updates and alter their behavior on the fly because botnets are controlled by a remote intruder. As a result, hacker will often rent access to portions of their botnet for a substantial profit on the black market.
The following are some of the most popular botnet activities:
- Email Spam:- Spam botnets remain among the biggest in number, considering the fact that email is now considered an older vector for harassment. They're mainly used to send out massive amounts of spam emails, which also have viruses. For eg, the Cutwail botnet will send up to 74 billion messages every day. They're even used to disperse bots so that the botnet can attract more machines.
- DDoS attacks:– use the botnet's large size to bombard a target network or server with requests, making it unavailable to legitimate users. DDoS attacks are carried out against organizations for political or financial purposes, or to extort money in order for the attack to end.
- Financial breach:- Botnets expressly designed for the direct theft of funds from companies and credit card details are used in financial breaches. Financial botnets, such as the Zeus botnet, have been blamed for attacks that resulted in millions of dollars being taken directly from several businesses in a brief amount of time.
- Targeted intrusions:– Smaller botnets intended to infiltrate particular high-value networks of organizations, enabling attackers to access and intrude further into the network. Attackers deliberately target companies' most important properties, such as financial records, research and development, intellectual property, and consumer knowledge, making these intrusions particularly risky.
