Archive for the 'Botnets' Category
The botnet ecosystem
"Botnets are networks of computers infected by malicious programs called bots.Bots allow cybercriminals to take control of a compromised machine and use its resources for their own goals – distributing spam, launching DDoS attacks, scams etc. Since the advent of botnets, the number of cybercrimes has increased enormously. However, botnets are not just a tool […]
No commentsSecurity researchers continue hunt for Conficker authors
"There are several ongoing investigations attempting to find the authors of the Conficker botnet, one of the fastest spreading worms in history, but those responsible for the worm have proven elusive. Security expert Mikko Hyppönen, chief research officer at F-Secure Corp., said he is aware of several ongoing investigations, but was asked specifically not to […]
No commentsAmazon EC2 Used as Botnet Command and Control
"Trend Micro released a report Dec. 9 highlighting what it expects to see as far as security threats in 2010. Among the more interesting predictions — attacks on cloud infrastructures will increase. Almost as if on cue, a report surfaced the same day that the Zeus Trojan was observed abusing the Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute […]
No commentsThe Root of the Botnet Epidemic
"Over the course of a few days in February 2000, a lone hacker was able to bring some of the Web’s larger sites to their knees, using just a few dozen machines and some relatively primitive software to cripple Yahoo, eBay, E*trade, Amazon, ZDnet and others for hours at a time. No one knew it […]
No comments3 Basic Steps to Avoid Joining a Botnet
"Banging the drum for security awareness never gets old. As much as CSOs try to get folks to bone up on safe practices (both online and in the office), there are always going to be some who need reminding. Online, the biggest battle these days is against botnets: networks of infected computers which hackers can […]
No commentsHow a Botnet Gets Its Name
"Because the security industry lacks a uniform way to title botnets, the result is sometimes a long list of names for the same botnet that are used by different antivirus vendors and that can be confusing to customers. As it stands now, the infamous Conficker is also known as Downup, Downadup and Kido. The Srizbi […]
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