A botnet is a number of Internet-connected computers communicating with other similar machines in an effort to complete repetitive tasks and objectives.A botnet refers to a type of bot running on an IRC network that has been created with a Trojan.
When an infected computer is on the Internet the bot can then start up an IRC client and connect to an IRC server. The Trojan will also have been coded to make the bot join a certain chat room once it has connected. Multiple bots can then join in one channels and the person who has made them can now spam IRC chat rooms, launch huge numbers of Denial of Service attacks against the IRC servers causing them to go down.
A botnet (also known as a zombie army) is a number of Internet computers that, although their owners are unaware of it, have been set up to forward transmissions (including spam or viruses) to other computers on the Internet.
Any such computer is referred to as a zombie - in effect, a computer "robot" or "bot" that serves the wishes of some master spam or virus originator. Most computers compromised in this way are home-based. According to a report from Russian-based Kaspersky Labs, botnets -- not spam, viruses, or worms -- currently pose the biggest threat to the Internet.
The word Botnet is formed from the words ‘robot’ and ‘network’. Cyber criminals use special Trojan viruses to breach the security of several users’ computers, take control of each computer,and organize all of the infected machines into a network of ‘bots’ that the criminal can remotely manage. Often, the cyber criminal will seek to infect and control thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of computers.
How to prevent your computer becoming part of a Botnet
Installing effective anti-malware software will help to protect your computer against Trojans and other threats.
References:
kaspersky.com
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