The word robot, or 'bot,' is used to describe a machine that can perform tasks automatically on command. Some types of malicious software or 'malware' are designed to infect computers and control them remotely. These infected computers are called 'bots' or Zombies because they are under the control of a new master rather than their owner.
These infected and remotely controlled computers can be combined into large networks called 'botnets.' A person known as a 'bot herder' or 'bot master' controls the network. The more infected computers a botnet controls, the more powerful it becomes. The Mariposa botnet was taken down in early 2010. It contained 12.7 million infected computers. The Spanish authorities, the FBI and several Internet security firms were involved in the takedown. Most botnets are considerably smaller than Mariposa, but may still contain hundreds of thousands of 'bots.' Each of those infected computers belongs to someone like you or I who is completely unaware that their computer is infected.
What is the point of hijacking hundreds of thousands of computers? The bad guy's goal is to make money. They do that by committing Internet crimes. Hijacking your computer makes it difficult for authorities to trace the crime back to the criminal. Once hijacked, computers are further infected with malware to search for anything of value. Account numbers with passwords and IDs, social security numbers, credit card numbers, are just a few examples. This information has value on the black markets of the Internet.
The computer might also be use to send thousands or hundreds of thousands of spam e-mails. The e-mail might be commercial, in an attempt to sell products such as pharmaceuticals, or the e-mail might be sent in an attempt to infect other machines, or to steal other passwords and user ids. That last process is called phishing. Yet another use of botnets is mount denial-of-service attacks intended to shut down websites, servers or networks. Large, sophisticated cyber attacks can even affect entire countries. Such was the case of Estonia in 2007 when the country was basically shut down for 3 weeks.
This is a great quote from Rik Ferguson, a senior security analyst at the Internet security firm Trend Micro. It sums up the situation we're all facing. "...most non-commercial spam these days is aimed solely to get you to click on a link, even out of curiosity. As soon as you click on that link, you're infected, most likely to become yet another botnet victim, have your identity and information stolen and go on to participate, all unknowingly in the infection of further victims."
Billions of dollars are spent annually to protect computers from malware such as viruses, Trojans, worms, etc. More billions are lost to theft and fraud not to mention the cost of repairs, lost productivity and missed business opportunities. Yet there is no end in sight. Malware is created by organized, sophisticated and well-funded criminal gangs. Their goal is to take your money and they've found an endless variety of ways to reach that goal. Antiquated laws and a lack of resources hinder the efforts of law enforcement.
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So what can you do to protect yourself? Here's a recent post on Internet Security that can help you get started: http://techteachtoo.com/internet-security/internet-security/ If you find this information useful, you might also like the website http://techteachtoo.com. A free e-mail newsletter is available, or you can subscribe via RSS.
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