What is a Botnet Attack?
Table of Contents
- By David Lukic
- Published: Jan 27, 2022
- Last Updated: Mar 18, 2022
Cyber-attacks are increasingly common and change rapidly as technology evolves and scammers become savvier. A botnet attack is a serious security threat, and individual and business networks can be targeted.
Botnet attacks involve robot activity. A botnet attack is a cyber-attack of significant size, executed by malware-infected devices which are controlled remotely. When Internet of Things (IoT) devices like computers, tablets, and phones are compromised by hackers, they morph into ‘zombie bots’ that take commands from a botnet controller. Affected devices usually get infected by malware, and the cybercriminal controlling them is referred to as a “bot herder.” This means that botnet attacks are a lot more dangerous than simple malware attacks since they make it possible for many actions to take place simultaneously, maximizing loss and damages.
Most Concerning Botnet Attacks
Sadly, Botnet attacks are on the rise, especially for businesses. Their frequency and size keep growing. Botnet attacks in 2020 dramatically surpassed the combined volume of other cyberattacks and have further increased in volume in 2021.
Roughly two-thirds of all of today’s web traffic is made up of bots. Not all bots are bad – useful services like search engines run on bot activity. Over half of all bots are considered hostile. Hackers can gain control and use the botnet to execute an attack when networks and devices have vulnerabilities – such as being late to install patches or software updates. These bots can be used in a variety of attack types:
Brute Force
When hackers cannot obtain passwords, they may choose to use brute force attacks sometimes called credential stuffing. During a brute force attack, malware directly interacts with the affected service for real-time feedback on password attempts, which are executed in a quick, repetitive fashion. Other credentials and identifiable information may also be attempted for password guesses.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
These widespread botnet attacks can bring an organization’s operations to a halt. DDoS attacks work by flooding a website or portal with web traffic. It then crashes, and service is interrupted, pending a resolution. Depending on the downtime of the site and the severity of the attack, this can cost businesses money and their reputation.
Device Bricking
Bricking a device infects it with malware, which deletes its contents, making it nonfunctional. The deletion usually means that the source of the initial attack is hard to identify. Bricking botnet attacks usually work in phases.
Phishing
These botnet attacks are designed to gain sensitive information from device users. Elaborate schemes exist to trick users into sharing sensitive information or login credentials, including posing as their employer, boss, bank, and other parties. Access to more devices through phishing means the botnet can grow.
Spam
Spam activities have evolved dramatically since the early days of the internet when spammers would use a small number of computers to send very large amounts of messages. When security experts began publishing the IP addresses of these computers, software vendors started to block them. Enter the large botnets of today. Each enslaved device transmits a relatively low number of messages, making it harder for security organizations to identify the sources of a spam campaign. However, the botnet size means that the spammer can still send out thousands or even millions of messages in a short time. This is not limited to email, as some botnets can also generate SMS spam.
Vulnerability Scans
Botnets can spot network vulnerabilities by systematically probing networks across the internet and looking for gaps, such as unapplied patches. Hackers use this information to identify targets and follow up with direct breach attempts and other attacks.
There are other categories of botnet attacks, including:
- SEO Links and Content Spam
- Account Takeovers
- Payment Card Fraud
- Scraping and Data Theft
- Application Abuse.
Who is Responsible for Botnet Attacks?
Cybercriminals can vary, and one of the challenges is that they are a worldwide presence. Many function as part of powerful groups and enjoy strong financial backing. There are botnet attacks attributed to organized crime rings in Russia and state-sponsored hackers in China. Additionally, wannabe cybercriminals can now rent botnets on the dark web for as little as $50 per day, making botnet attacks even more accessible and common. The main reason botnet attacks happen is that they are highly profitable to the hackers when successful. “Criminals have found more and more ways to illegally make money through botnets.” A statement from the U.S. Office of Public Affairs states:
“Law enforcement officers now frequently ascertain that creators and operators of botnets not only use botnets for their own illicit purposes but also sell or even rent to other criminals access to the infected computers. The criminals who purchase access to botnets then go on to use the infected computers for various crimes, including theft of personal or financial information, the dissemination of spam, for use as proxies to conceal other crimes, or in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on computers or networks.”
How to Prevent Botnet Attacks?
Device and network users can get ahead of botnet attacks by implementing the following best practices:
- Ensuring that all systems are properly patched and kept current.
- Investing in up-to-date malware and antivirus protection.
- Carefully assessing the necessary firewall openings.
- Utilizing security monitoring services for breach-and-attack simulation. These services make it possible to probe the defenses of an organization without performing an attack or test on a production system.
- Monitoring network and device activities diligently to spot an attack and quickly and swiftly respond.
- Educating all network users in detail about current common cyber security threats, so they can spot and prevent phishing attacks and malware attacks.
