Bots to Surpass All Malware

Sana Security Inc., the leading behavioral security software company has predicted that bots would grow as the fastest malware threat in 2007. It, therefore, warns Internet users to be wary of malicious Web robots or just "bots" that pose increasing danger.

Bot herders who build networks of compromised computers called 'botnets' often sell their access to other people who use them to cause trouble for Internet users. The new attackers could be spamming mails or spreading pop-up advertising messages to various PCs. Sometimes they may use the bots for surveillance, or reading the keystrokes and website activities of target users.

The bot menace is already a prime area of attention by online tech support services, companies monitoring credit, and other kinds of organizations offering their services for consumers.

Sana's data collection shows that bots account for 43% of all malware traversing in the wild. The security firm is confident that the expansion of bots in 2007 will grow far beyond the growth of rootkits that was 413% in 2006, said Don Listwin, CEO of Sana Security, and Businesswire published Listwin's statement on June 25, 2007.

Listwin further said all the growth statistics miss on the use of silently moving but dangerous technologies like P2P communications that save these bots from the detection systems. With the speedy increase in such technologies bots are literally becoming prolific without getting caught.

Very recently, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice declared that they had located about 1 million victims of botnet crime in the U.S. under the Operation Bot Roast. This ongoing operation is a collective initiative to dismantle botnets. The groups behind Operation Bot Roast launched it when they realized that national security was at stake and its implications were broader as a result of increasing botnets.

Most of the victims do not even realize that their PCs are under remote control or their personal information is being captured, said FBI assistant director James Finch who leads the FBI's Cyber Division, as reported by Businesswire on June 25, 2007.

Related article: Bots Responsible for Spamming was Major Threat in 2007

» SPAMfighter News - 7/7/2007