Beware of The BOTNET - The Zombie Can Be Dangerous!

Botnet, a robot network basically means a group of computers running a computer application while the owner or the source of the software has all the control! But these days, when we are talking about the botnet, we are actually talking about a group of computers infected by a malware like robot software that presents a huge threat to the computer owner.

Cyber criminals are known to distribute this malicious software and if your PC gets infected, it turns your computer into a bot, popularly known as “Zombie”. When this occurs, your PC does things which you don’t intend to do! Like I said earlier, the source has all the control. Thus the infected computer performs automated tasks over the internet, without you knowing it! Well, that’s scary, isn’t it?! The case is actually worse. You never know, you are even helping in some cyber theft or some criminal activity!

The group of infected computers forms a botnet & it gives its owner a power to control all those computers. And beware! It isn’t just a matter of your computer aiding a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack against a major website; it can even steal the information from your computer. The botmaster can even turn your computer into a spamming machine, a spying machine or even a cash machine! Its not just a matter of Vandalism. its about stealing your money, bandwidth and identity (social security numbers, credit card numbers, passwords, addresses, telephone numbers etc)

Preventive measures:

You can save your PC from getting infected with proper maintenance and some common sense!

[*]Get an anti-virus and an anti-spyware from a trusted source and keep them updated on a regular basis
[*]Use strong passwords and keep them secret.
[*]Never turn off your firewall.
[*]Use pen-drives, external hard disks cautiously. Scan them before opening a file. And don’t open stuff you aren’t supposed to!

Now some common sense things:

[*]Be cautious while opening the attachment, clicking on the links in an e-mail or even on networking sites like Facebook even if its sent by your friend! Some of you might have faced problems, like on facebook; you see posts from you on your friends’ wall while you haven’t posted it yourself! I see this stuff on a regular basis these days. Some of the links being “rotate the image 360 degree”, “see who viewed your profile”, “who has a crush on you!”. These are all ridiculous links; show some common sense by not clicking them.
[*]Don’t install everything that comes for free! A free download many times comes with a malware attached! Never respond to a warning from a program you didn’t install or do not recognize which claims to protect your PC and remove viruses. There is a high probability of it doing exactly opposite!

The internet security groups have collaborated with government agencies to track down the botnets. In July 2010, A Slovakian hacker was arrested who was responsible for responsible for an estimated 12.7 million-computer botnet! There are many more active botnets in this world. Just make sure that your PC is not associated with them!