I've read warnings about getting caught up in a botnet?

Question

, but I still don't understand the danger. Can you explain in simple terms what a botnet is, and how to avoid them?

Answer 1

A botnet is a network of PCs virtually controlled by robot programs.  The 'bots get planted by malware and essentially do their masters' bidding, usually sending enormous numbers of nuisance messages to servers in order to flood them in what's known as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack.

Botnet sizes can be enormous.

Hope you never find yourself in one.

Answer 2

Okay, here's the scoop... a botnet is a collection of ordinary home and office computers that have been compromised by rogue software. The term "botnet" is short for "robot network" and describes the situation rather well. Computers that have been caught up in a botnet have been effectively taken over, and can be used to perform almost any task by the person or persons who control the botnet. Botnets are controlled by criminals and other miscreants whose motives include selling products, operating financial scams and crippling websites through coordinated attacks.

Should you be concerned about botnets? Yes, because botnets operate silently, and your computer may be affected without you ever suspecting it. Botnets are everywhere. It is estimated that over 30 million "zombie" computers are unknowingly caught up in these networks that distribute spam, steal personal information and participate in denial of service attacks. Botnets are carefully planned to spread via viral infections and other malicious software. They use email and P2P (peer to peer) technology to spread to other computers. Once your PC is infected, it may attempt to spread the botnet code to others on a local network in a home or office setting.

Botnets are most often used to spew massive quantities of spam, which is where most of the "enhance your body part," p**n offers and phishing scams come from. But since the botnet code runs with full privileges on the infected computer, it can be used to gather sensitive information from businesses, political groups or governments. Sometimes, the attacks are used to damage or take down a competitor's website by flooding it with emails or web connections. These attacks can be hard to defend against, because the attacking computers are spread all over the Internet.

Bots can also be used as agents for mass identity theft. This happens through phishing emails that appear to be from a legitimate company in order to convince the user to submit personal information and passwords. Be especially wary of emails claiming to be from eBay, Paypal, banks or the government. Never click on email links to access these sites -- always use your bookmark or key it in directly.