Botnets: Potential Threats to National Security

The online-outlawed community is mass-producing botnets to cripple network infrastructure of even entire nations, with Windows systems acting as their chosen accomplices.

A Botnet refer to the zombie army of affected systems that allows the unauthorized user to automatically control a host computer in a manner that users have no clues about it.

These botnets can download password sniffers and keyloggers that enable unauthorized user to have access to confidential data. A compromised bot may also be used as a springboard for aggressively attacking other systems in the network.

Botnets are responsible for causing more than around 70 % of spams. Bootnets become really threatening when a number of these armies combine to launch an attack, crippling even the infrastructure of any country.

A botnet can grow to become a massive insidious army of a million bots can wield a traffic of around 128 gigabits with say a conservative broadband upload speed of around 128kbps per bot. Using distributed DoS (denial-of- service) attacks, such a botnet can easily paralyze network infrastructure of most Fortune 500.

A risk management company, McAfee affirmed that a multinational telecommunications company with business operations in Central America faced a number of network attacks, which resulted in blocking of Internet connectivity across the country with teller machines being dysfunctional.

Industry experts affirm that there have been continuous rise in the number as well as the different variants of botnets. Simply using 'string-based detection' technique will prove to be grossly insufficient in tackling the impending tide of these invidious agents.

Apart from better cooperation among ISPs and security companies as well as shutting down detected botnet controllers, there's a need for a strategic shift in handling the overall security malice. It's suggested that instead of blocking invidious data its better to allow only those that are free from spams, virus, and Trojans.

Network intrusion prevention systems are extremely important components of risk management and network security. Experts believe that only such innovative strategies can help check growth of botnet attacks.

Related article: Botnet Misuses Google Analytics

» SPAMfighter News - 10/30/2006