In today’s lifestyle and work, everything is driven by the use of the internet and digital devices.
While it makes everything fast and easy, having to use these technological devices makes us prone to harmful threats like illegal hacking, fraudulent activities, information spam, and computer viruses. All of these examples can greatly affect our lives and work.
Cybercrime has increased over the years and not just in well-known countries, but all over the world.
Cyber-attacks have become aggressive and technical, they also target a wide variety of small to large enterprises in different industries. Apart from the common attacks, we have known, one of the prevalent internet threats that businesses and individuals are facing today is the ‘botnet’.
It is a computer network that is controlled by hackers to spread a ransomware program to a company or personal devices such as tablets, smartphones, computers, and laptops.
The challenge for these attacks is some are untraceable and undetectable. Users will not realize that their device is already a part of a botnet.
Knowledge brings awareness. Here are the different types of botnets that every user should be aware of.
Botnet
Botnet comes from the combination of words ‘robot’ and ‘network’. It is a type of cybercriminal attack where hackers act the role of a botmaster while using a computer virus to penetrate a series of networks and connect them to be used for malicious purposes.
Once it infects your computers, each of those devices that are interconnected by the network is being controlled by a hacker to spread malware. The other term for the botnet is ‘Zombie Army’, as computers are being remotely accessed by someone and not by the owner.
Originally, botnets were created to serve as a tool in an internet relay chat channel. But spammers began to take advantage of its uses and develop their bots with the intention of password theft, keystroke logging, and other malicious activities.
Botnet Structure
A botnet structure comes in two forms, these are peer to peer model and the client-server model. Peer to peer structure relies on one central server where each device works independently as both client and server.
A client-server model is established with one server acting as a central botmaster. It runs on specific software that manages and maintains the control of the other devices.
Different Types of Botnet
Spamming – Traffic Monitoring
Bots are used to sort out infected devices that have important and sensitive data.
Adware
Adware bots use advertisements on applications or websites to lure users.
Botnet Spread
Botnet using other botnet platforms to convince users in downloading programs through email or web links.
Mass Identity Theft
Bots are used to do a large scale identity theft by imitating legitimate companies and following the process of a phishing attack.
Pay per Click
Bots are used to automatically click on a site or application. Companies like Google pay money to website owners who have a sure amount of views, visits, and interactions, like the clicks.
Keylogging
Bots are used as a device softwares to retain or record the movement of keyboards. This is done to steal usernames, passwords, and other sensitive information.
DDoS
Bots are used as distributed denial of service to destroy network services and connectivity by exploiting the bandwidth and resources of the user.
Career Opportunity
Be a part of a successful and growing industry with plenty of career opportunities. Cybersecurity has pride itself to be a challenging and self-fulfilling career path for IT enthusiasts.
You can start now and enroll with us at Reliable Cyber Solutions, LLC. Check our courses and certification program at RCyberSolutions.
