The A to Z of security

Botnets

A botnet - also known as a 'zombie network' or 'zombie army' - is a collection of internet-connected PCs that have been compromised by malware infection so they can be controlled remotely by a malicious outsider, often without the PC owners' knowledge. PCs not protected by adequate antivirus and firewall software are at greatest risk of being corralled into a botnet.

Security from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more...

A is for Antivirus
B is for Botnets
C is for CMA
D is for DDoS
E is for Extradition
F is for Federated identity
G is for Google
H is for Hackers
I is for IM
J is for Jaschan (Sven)
K is for Kids
L is for Love Bug
M is for Microsoft
N is for Neologisms
O is for Orange
P is for Passwords
Q is for Questions
R is for Rootkits
S is for Spyware
T is for Two-factor authentication
U is for USB sticks/devices
V is for Virus variants
W is for Wi-fi
X is for OS X
Y is for You
Z is for Zero-day

Armies of zombie PCs are used by cyber criminals for sending spam or viruses or committing denial of service attacks. Capacity on botnets is rented out to criminal gangs or individuals for as little as $100 for a couple of hours by their creator – often a very commercially motivated virus writer.

A zombie army was used in a high profile DDoS attack against Akamai Technologies last year, affecting the websites of some of its big-name tech clients.