{"id":41658,"date":"2015-04-09T05:05:56","date_gmt":"2015-04-09T12:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=41658"},"modified":"2025-08-31T22:49:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T05:49:49","slug":"what-a-botnet-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/what-a-botnet-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s What You Need To Know About Botnets"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the year of 2000, Professor Vijay Pande, a renowned Stanford University researcher, released a little program that, when downloaded by a user, would simulate how protein molecules fold<\/a>\u2014a necessary and important part of drug research. But protein folding is a complicated process, requiring a lot of computing power to do the simplest of recreations. Pande\u2019s program, however, distributed that computing burden among thousands of personal computers. All of the sudden, researchers had a cheap way of doing expensive research.<\/p>\n

Pande, in essence, created a botnet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A botnet is a network of personal computers working together to accomplish a given task. The term botnet is used because these automated programs, called robots or \u201cbots\u201d are spread across a network of computers. These computers are often controlled through a server\u2014a computer acting as a communication resource for other devices. In the case of botnets, this server is often called a command and control server. It is central to running and maintaining a botnet.<\/p>\n

On their own, individual bots are fairly weak programs. In aggregate, however, botnets can be very powerful. And very damaging.<\/p>\n

Unscrupulous characters often use botnets to power a variety of illegal projects. Denial-of-Service Attacks<\/a> (DoS), where infected computers flood a webpage with traffic to knock it offline, are one common use of botnets. These attacks can, and do, cost businesses millions of dollars in losses in a short period of time. Malicious botnets are also used to distribute viruses, steal passwords<\/a> and propagate spam. Botnets, for the most part, are effective, cheap ways for cybercriminals to compel computers to do bad things.<\/p>\n

We recently worked with the United States Department of Justice and other security firms to take down a botnet named \u201cGameover Zeus<\/a>.\u201d Gameover Zeus stole personal information like bank account passwords and usernames. The botnet was also used to distribute Cryptolocker\u2014a type of malicious program<\/a> called \u201cransomware.\u201d Ransomware<\/a> essentially holds a computer hostage until its owner pays a ransom to the cybercriminal.<\/p>\n

In its press release, the Department of Justice estimated<\/a> that Gameover Zeus and Cryptolocker caused more than $100 million and $27 million in damages, respectively. The botnet\u2019s creator, identified as Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, is now wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.<\/p>\n

So yes. Botnets can be very bad. They can also be very good. Professor Pande\u2019s program, Folding at Home<\/a>, has helped researchers better understand diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s and Huntington\u2019s\u2014which in turn will help develop treatments. The critical difference here, other than intent, is consent. Participants in Folding at Home knowingly download the program in order to help it achieve its end goal: better medical treatments. Botnets, however, rob victims of that consent and exploit this robbery further by stealing and selling personal information.<\/p>\n

Steps to Protect Yourself from Botnets<\/h2>\n

So what can you do to protect yourself from botnets? Well, thankfully, there are a few steps you can take:<\/p>\n