BOTNET ISSUES

Investigation of Botnet Issues

Investigation of Botnet Issues

Introduction

A Bot is a computer system which is infected with malicious software or code that enables the Bot to join a network of other Bots. Botnets is a term that is used to refer to a network of Bots. The infected computers are given tasks by a Command and Control Server. Botnets continue to be a problem for the worldwide web. They are used for launching denial-of-service attacks and sending enormous amounts of spam. Additionally, it affects the bandwidth of internet by causing massive traffic across the bandwidth. This results in reduction of internet performance. According to estimates of McAfee, there are more than 4 million new infections of botnets per month (Wagley, 2012, p.n.d.). Various types of defence strategies are required to be adopted in order to bring about a solution for the problem of Botnets. ISPs are making attempts to eradicate this problem from the root. For this purpose, ISPs are required to work together in order to understand the current situation of the problem and bring about solutions for it. ISPs are required to coordinate and share information with each other in order to get rid of the problem of Botnets.

Botnets

Botnet is a group of systems that are infected with a type of malicious code or software. As the software successfully gets installed into a system, the computer turns into a zombie. An infected computer carried malicious code and obeys certain commands without knowledge and permission of the owner of the system. This activity causes certain types of mysterious messages to be displayed, slowing down of systems, and even complete collapse of the systems.

Botnets can be of any size, either small or big. It depends on the sophistication and complexity of the robot being used. A big Botnet can be made up of 10,000 zombies. A small Botnet can be made up of only one thousand zombies. The owners of the infected computers are typically unaware of the fact that there computers are exploited and remotely controlled by some other party. The remote control is typically executed by the protocol of Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Additionally, Botnets are used for various types of attacks. These attacks include denial of service attacks, spamming, traffic monitoring, mass identity theft, botnet spread, pay-per-click systems abuse and so forth.

Current estimates of the scale of the Botnet problem

Academics and security experts have showed that botnets are not only abundant in number but seem to have developed gigantic in size. The current estimates of the size of botnets vary across various sources. Majority of the estimates are based on the total number of IP addresses sending spam, or accessing the Control and Command servers. However, the relationship between infected machines and IP addresses is not in the ratio of one is to one. Networks that have a restricted IP space utilize NAT for supporting multiple infected machines with one outbound IP address. In the same way, networks might reassign frequently the dynamic IP addresses that may ...