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Topic: Botnet

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	Freedom to Tinker » Blog Archive » Botnet Briefing
		Botnets are a serious threat, but as usual in cybersecurity there is no obvious silver bullet against them.
		I hypothesize that one reason why botnets are so rampant is that they usually do very little damage to their hosts–simply “borrowing” a bit of spare bandwidth and computation time to attack or annoy other computers or their users, and therefore creating little incentive for users to clean them off their machines.
		The user would be safe, the botnet operator would have his botnet, and everyone would be happy except for the botnet’s unfortunate victims.
	www.freedom-to-tinker.com /?p=1150 (1524 words)

	InfoWorld GripeLine by Ed Foster \| InfoWorld \| Botnet Spam Getting Out of Hand \| November 3, 2006 12:11 AM \| By Ed ...
		And the cause of all these woes is the growing menace of botnet attacks.
		Of course, if everyone had effective security software on their computers, there wouldn't even be a botnet problem because there'd be no zombies for the bots to control.
		So, by all means, let's discuss botnets, because seeing that I'm not alone in suffering from their attacks doesn't make me feel all that much better.
	weblog.infoworld.com /gripeline/archives/2006/11/botnet_spam_get.html (517 words)

	* The Anti-Spam Home Page
		One purpose for a botnet is to deliver spam in a way that is impossible to control (because each bot in the botnet has a separate address, so address filtering fails).
		Before botnets, spammers had to pay a server operator for the direct costs for the bandwidth used by the spam traffic, as well as some legal costs incurred by operating an illegal enterprise out of a legal server.
		There are no ongoing unit costs if the spammer owns the botnet, and only small costs to create the botnet in the first place, and because the spammer's identity is concealed along with the botnet, the legal issue is moot.
	www.arachnoid.com /lutusp/antispam.html (4706 words)

	botnet Definition: TechEncyclopedia from TechWeb
		(roBOT NETwork) Also called a "zombie army," a botnet is a large number of compromised computers that are used to create and send spam or viruses or flood a network with messages as a denial of service attack.
		The computer is compromised via a Trojan that often works by opening an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel that waits for commands from the person in control of the botnet.
		There is a thriving botnet business selling lists of compromised computers to hackers and spammers.
	www.techweb.com /encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=botnet&x=0&y=0 (300 words)

	Botnet 'pandemic' threatens to strangle the net \| The Register
		The goal of the attack was to retrieve text snippets that were used in a attempt to disguise junk mail messages in a bid to smuggle spam past filters.
		Botnets of compromised PCs are used by hackers for purposes such as relaying spam and launching denial of service attacks against targeted websites.
		Intelligence from either the sale of access to botnet resources on the internet or from ISP takedown efforts suggests groups of 50,000 or so compromised PCs or smaller are common, by which reckoning Cerf's figures seem rather high.
	www.theregister.co.uk /2007/01/26/botnet_threat (631 words)

	What is botnet? - a definition from Whatis.com - see also: zombie army, bot network
		- A botnet (also known as a zombie army) is a number of Internet computers that, although their owners are unaware of it, have been set up to forward transmissions (including spam or viruses) to other computers on the Internet.
		Any such computer is referred to as a zombie - in effect, a computer "robot" or "bot" that serves the wishes of some master spam or virus originator.
		The computers that form a botnet can be programmed to redirect transmissions to a specific computer, such as a Web site that can be closed down by having to handle too much traffic - a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack - or, in the case of spam distribution, to many computers.
	searchsecurity.techtarget.com /sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci1030284,00.html (478 words)

	Is the Botnet Battle Already Lost?
		A botnet is a collection of broadband-enabled PCs, hijacked during virus and worm attacks and seeded with software that connects back to a server to receive communications from a remote attacker.
		Botnets filled—and easily replenished—with compromised Windows have emerged as the key hub for well-organized crime rings around the globe, using stolen bandwidth from drone zombies to make money from nefarious Internet activity, according to security experts tracking the threat.
		Now, there is a general feeling of hopelessness as botnet hunters discover that, after years of mitigating command and controls, the effort has largely gone to waste.
	www.eweek.com /article2/0,1895,2029720,00.asp (1250 words)

	World Wide Words: Botnet
		The term botnet has been known in the hacker community at least since the middle 1990s, but has only recently started to appear in more general contexts.
		This modus operandi is fuelling a growing crime wave against e-commerce in which these networks of bots, dubbed botnets, are increasingly being offered for hire by hacking groups.
		A fear is growing that a botnet could be used to take down a major data network or prominent Web sites.
	www.worldwidewords.org /turnsofphrase/tp-bot1.htm (281 words)

	What is botnet? - A Word Definition From the Webopedia Computer Dictionary
		A botnet refers to a type of bot running on an IRC network that has been created with a trojan.
		When an infected computer is on the Internet the bot can then start up an IRC client and connect to an IRC server.
		A huge IRC "botnet" controlling more than 10,000 machines has been shut down by the security staff of Norwegian provider Telenor.
	www.webopedia.com /TERM/b/botnet.html (263 words)

	Zone-H.org - Botnet, what a headache (Site not responding. Last check: )
		The virus was due to a botnet that was believed to be used for mass-mailing spam.
		So, botnets perpetrators can get total control over an unspecified and potentially unlimited number of computers that could be used for any purpose and even sold to the best bidder.
		Indeed, on October 26th the 32-years-old John Bombard was condemned by a federal US court for being responsible of the huge DDOS attack through a botnet, that in June 2004 provoked serious damages to the leading content delivery network Akamai.
	www.zone-h.com /content/view/14320/31 (480 words)

	Security Watch: What good are 1,000 remote-controlled PCs? - CNET reviews
		Botnets are distributed networks of computers that are linked to a common source, be it a criminal hacker (cracker) or a corporate entity.
		Botnets can compete: Text code found within the viruses MyDoom, Bagle, and Netsky accused each other of interfering with the creation of bigger and better botnets.
		And botnet owners are also starting to use encryption, which makes their detection even harder.
	reviews.cnet.com /4520-3513_7-6388849-1.html (1467 words)

	Botnet operation controlled 1.5m PCs - vnunet.com (Site not responding. Last check: )
		A recently foiled botnet operation has turned out to be 15 times larger that police initially thought.
		A botnet is a collection of computers infected with a computer worm which puts the system under the worm creator's control without the owner's knowledge.
		Botnets are commonly used to host illegal web content such as child pornography, to send out spam or to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
	www.vnunet.com /vnunet/news/2144375/botnet-operation-ruled-million (578 words)

	California Man Indicted for “Botnet” Attack That Impacted Hospital (February 10, 2006) (Site not responding. Last check: )
		In simple terms, a botnet is created when a computer hacker executes a program over the world wide web that seeks out computers with a security weakness it can exploit.
		Botnets can range in size from just a few computers to tens of thousands of computers doing the bidding of the hacker.
		According to the indictment, as the botnet searched for additional computers to compromise, it infected the computer network at Northwest Hospital in north Seattle.
	www.cybercrime.gov /maxwellIndict.htm (527 words)

	egghelp.org: enhancing your eggdrop
		A botnet also has many other possible capabilities, such as allowing bots to op one another securely, and making all bots join a channel with one command.
		The hub bot should be the most reliable bot on your botnet, running on a fast, stable, and secure shell - so keep that in mind when deciding which bot will be the hub.
		If you wish to try this, as well as gain a better understanding of botnet configuration, refer to the Botnet Sharing and Linking guide that is included with Eggdrop.
	www.egghelp.org /enhance.htm (3899 words)

	Know your Enemy: Tracking Botnets
		A botnet is nothing more then a tool, there are as many different motives for using them as there are people.
		Even if we are very optimistic and estimate that we track a significant percentage of all botnets and all of our tracked botnet IRC servers are not modified to hide JOINs or obfuscate the joining clients IPs, this would mean that more then one million hosts are compromised and can be controlled by malicious attackers.
		If a botnet consists of more than 5 linked IRC servers, we simply say it is large even if we are not able to determine a numerical number as the IRCd software is stripped down.
	www.honeynet.org /papers/bots (8706 words)

	Schneier on Security: Dutch Botnet
		The problem with the botnets is that the participants are unaware of their involvement, and will continue to be unaware until they notified.
		This botnet would allow for 150 such attacks, so they could be distributed over time as well as over machines.
		The botnet could be rented out to companies who want to know what people do on their computers.
	www.schneier.com /blog/archives/2005/12/dutch_botnet.html (2479 words)

	Botnet clicking AdSense ads revealed - JenSense.com
		The SANS institute has reported on a Botnet that is clicking on AdSense publisher's ads, likely on a botnet-for-hire basis for publishers looking to fraudulently increase their bottom line.
		Ironically, for being so protective of the botnet, one of the botnet owners left everything open - including the.exe files and the control panel - the URL of which ended up in the hands of the SANS institute.
		Since botnets use hundreds of thousands of infected user PC's they can be used to emulate "normal" (low) click activity on CPC ads from an equal number of IP addresses -- flying under the radar of the best detection devices.
	www.jensense.com /archives/2006/05/botnet_clicking.html (1172 words)

	Eggdrop Documentation: Botnet Sharing and Linking
		The purpose of this document is to show you what a botnet is and how it could be useful to you.
		A botnet consists of one or more bots connected together.
		Again, since bot flags are not shared, you would have to add the bot flag +a for beldin on them all.
	www.eggheads.org /support/egghtml/1.6.17/botnet.html (1482 words)

	Net pioneer predicts overwhelming botnet surge \| Tech News on ZDNet
		Vast networks of compromised PCs, used by criminals for sending spam and spyware and for launching denial-of-service attacks, are reported to be growing at an alarming rate in terms of their potential.
		According to Mark Sunner, chief security analyst at MessageLabs, Cerf's words of warning are far from scaremongering and the picture is at least as serious as Cerf paints it.
		Sunner said that around the turn of the year security experts were watching one botnet, called Spam Thru, which not only had its own antivirus protection to clear other botnets off "its patch," but had the potential to be 10 times more productive than most other botnets while evading detection because of built-in defenses.
	news.zdnet.com /2100-1009_22-6154221.html (684 words)

	Rusbiz Newsletter - Ezine for Online Business Community
		Botnet is a jargon for a collection of software robots which run autonomously.
		A botnet's originator can control the group remotely, usually through a means such as IRC, and use it for malicious purposes.
		Apparently, the malware distributors are using the botnets to spread spam that is designed to jack up "pump and dump" penny stocks and various adware.
	ezine.rusbiz.com (981 words)

	Spies infiltrate zombie computer networks - info-tech - 16 March 2005 - New Scientist
		This is probably an attempt to make botnets more difficult to infiltrate by distributing their control over multiple servers.
		He has also recorded botnet controllers plotting to take over rivals, evidence of botnets being bought and sold, and comments that indicate that not all botnet controllers are necessarily tech savvy, such as: "How can I compile?"
		He says the information could be used by law enforcement to prosecute botnet controllers and by researchers to develop more appropriate tools to thwart the spread of botnets.
	www.newscientist.com /article.ns?id=dn7158 (682 words)

	SpywareGuide.com :: Term :: BotNet
		Botnet is a jargon term for a collection of software robots, or bots, which run autonomously.
		While the term "botnet" can be used to refer to any group of bots, such as IRC bots, the word is generally used to refer to a collection of compromised machines running programs (usually referred to as worms, Trojan horses, or backdoors) under a common command and control infrastructure, often called a zombie master.
		A botnet's originator, or master, can control the group remotely, usually through a means such as IRC, and usually for nefarious purposes.
	www.spywareguide.com /term_show.php?id=58 (215 words)

	Inside AdWords: A new case study on botnet-based click fraud
		Clickbot.A is the name of a botnet that Google's Click Quality and Security Teams investigated last year.
		Clickbot.A is an example of a botnet operator attempting a click fraud attack against syndicated search engines.
		While Clickbot.A is a specific example of a botnet application that conducted click fraud, botnets can also be used for keylogging, distributed denial of service (DDoS), and other types of attacks.
	adwords.blogspot.com /2007/04/new-case-study-on-botnet-based-click.html (251 words)

	Telenor takes down 'massive' botnet
		The Internet Storm Centre advises users with network traffic logs to check for connections from their network to the IRC Server - which was listening on IP 203.81.40.172 tcp port 10009.
		The Telenor takedown is a significant step in the fight against botnets, which have been implicated in recent DDoS attacks against Akamai and DoubleClick as well as attacks on numerous online bookies in recent months.
		Last month, the FBI shut down a large IRC provider, Ohio-based CIT/Foonet, after uncovering evidence it was a middleman between hackers with access to botnet networks and unscrupulous businesses prepared to launch denial of service attacks on rivals.
	www.securityfocus.com /news/9476 (232 words)

	NewsFactor Network \| BT Cracking Down on Botnet Operators
		Communications giant BT is taking the fight directly to botnet perpetrators with the introduction of an automated "spam buster" system designed to track down -- and shut down -- infected PCs.
		Those identified as professional botnet operators face punitive action by BT, including termination of an Internet account and the addition of their IP addresses to industry fllists.
		Yankee Group analyst Jonathan Singer suggested that the proliferation of spam engines and botnets can be attributed to the successes hackers have experienced thus far.
	www.newsfactor.com /story.xhtml?story_id=102003ILGUFC (823 words)

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