{"id":92430,"date":"2018-11-06T06:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=92430"},"modified":"2025-08-04T21:51:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T04:51:32","slug":"zombie-iot-botnets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/mobile-security\/zombie-iot-botnets\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware: Zombie IoT Botnets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ghosts and ghouls of October have come and gone, but the dangers lurking behind virtual walls have hardly disappeared. The threat of zombie bots<\/a> is real, and it exists 365 days out of the year. Zombie bots, or devices that are taken over by hackers to disseminate different types of malware, viruses, or spam<\/a> to other Internet-connected gadgets, are no longer limited to just home computers. As executed in the Mirai<\/a> botnet attack, they\u2019ve expanded into the world of IoT connected devices, too.<\/p>\n

\"\"Adding to their complexity, zombie bots are not just limited to one feature or attack; they can be morphed into whatever their \u2018master\u2019 wants them to be. From logging keystrokes or searching through files to updating malware and downloading more malware onto an infected device, zombie botnets are ever-evolving.<\/p>\n

To a hacker, zombie bots are more effective and infinitely stronger when they band together.\u00a0 And so one by one, cybercriminals work to spread their malware of choice to devices to form an army of zombie bots, also known as a botnet<\/a>. Massive botnets are used in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, which are among the most intimidating types of attacks of which zombie botnet armies are capable. DDoS attacks are growing in number and severity; one report<\/a> found that they\u2019ve increased by 29% since Q2 2017, with the average attack size having increased by 543% to 26.37 Gbps.<\/p>\n

The increase in DDoS attacks is attributed to large scale botnets comprised of insecure IoT devices. The adoption of IoT devices shows no signs of slowing down either. Today, there are currently 23.14 billion<\/a> IoT devices worldwide. That number is predicted to grow exponentially just in the next 7 years to approximately 75.44 billion<\/a> by 2025.<\/p>\n

New variations of the Mirai and Gafgyt<\/a> botnets exploit vulnerabilities found in IoT devices, including the security flaw that led to the massive Equifax breach of 2017<\/a>. Just this past month, a botnet by the name of Chalubo<\/a> was discovered by security researchers. By targeting poorly-secured IoT devices and servers, the Chalubo botnet compromises users\u2019 devices for the purpose of executing a DDoS attack. Researchers also found that this botnet had copied a few code snippets from Mirai, demonstrating that cybercriminals have realized how effective this type of attack is.<\/p>\n

So, why the rise in DDoS and other IoT botnet attacks? IoT devices like security cameras, smart lights, DVRs, and routers are particularly easy to remotely access because they often come with factory-set admin password setups, and many of us never change them to something more secure.\u00a0 Our collective accumulation of connected devices shows no sign of slowing down, and without proper security in place, they are vulnerable to attacks. And what\u2019s particularly troubling is that more often than not, zombie botnet armies operate in the shadows, unbeknownst to their owners.<\/p>\n

Tips to Protect Your Devices<\/h2>\n

Put simply, with more IoT devices in use, the risk of botnets increases, as does the need for awareness around this very real and potentially debilitating cyberthreat. While cybercriminals continue to try and leverage our own devices against us, the best way to protect your devices is through education and security best practices:<\/p>\n