How to Protect Yourself From Botnets?

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How to Prevent a Botnet attack?

botnet is a group of computers that are connected in a coordinated manner to carry out malicious purposes. A bot is an acronym for each computer within a botnet. These bots create a network of the compromised computer that is controlled by third parties and used to send spam, malware, or launch attacks.

These computers are connected to the internet and perform repetitive tasks that keep websites running. It is often used in conjunction with Internet Relay Chat. These types of botnets can be used to ensure a smooth user experience online.

You should be cautious about malicious and illegal botnets. Botnets can gain access to your computer through malicious code. Sometimes your machine is directly hacked. Other times, a “spider”, does the hacking automatically. Spider is a program that scans the Internet for security holes to exploit.

Botnets are designed to add your computer to their web. This is usually done via drive-by downloads or fooling people into installing Trojan horses on their computers. Once the software is downloaded, the botnet contacts its master computer to let it know everything is in order. Your computer now has complete control from the creator of the botnet.

How do Botnets work?

The botnet malware is designed to find vulnerable devices all over the Internet and not target specific individuals, companies, or industries. This botnet is designed to infect as many devices as possible, and then use that computing power and resource to perform automated tasks that are usually hidden from the users.

A botnet for ad fraud infects a user’s computer. It will then take control of the web browsers to divert fraudulent traffic towards specific online ads. The botnet won’t take full control of web browsers to conceal its presence. However, it will alert the user. The botnet may instead use a small portion of the browser’s background processes to send traffic to targeted ads from the infected device.

Cybercriminals using ad fraud campaigns will only be able to use a small fraction of the bandwidth that is taken from a device. A botnet that includes millions of devices can generate a lot of fake traffic to ad fraud and prevent detection by those using the devices.

Botnets perform common tasks

Once the botnet’s creator has complete control over your computer, they will normally use it to do other evil tasks. Botnets can execute the following common tasks:

  • Spam emailing to millions of Internet users
  • For financial gain, creating fake Internet traffic for a third-party site.
  • You are specifically targeted to replace banner ads in your browser.
  • Pop-up ads are used to convince you to purchase a fake anti-spyware program to remove the botnet.

Tips to Protect Yourself From Botnets – How To Prevent Botnet

Many people infected by botnets don’t realize that their computer security has been compromised. It is possible to remove botnets from your computer by taking simple precautions while surfing the internet. Below are some tips to help protect yourself against botnets.

  • As soon as possible, update your operating system. Hackers often use known security flaws of the operating system to install botnets. You can also program your computer to install updates automatically.
  • It is important to update your applications regularly, as hackers will rush to create programs that exploit weaknesses once they are discovered and reported by software companies.
  • Do not click on links or open attachments from email addresses that you know. This is the main vector for all types and forms of malware.
  • Avoid visiting websites that are known to distribute malware.

When browsing the Internet, make sure you use a firewall. The web security tool Comodo cWatch comes with a reliable Web Application Firewall. The Comodo WAF can protect web applications and websites from advanced attacks, including SQL Injection, Denial-of-Service, (DDoS), and Cross-Site Scripting. It is available in the virtual, physical, cloud, and online. The combination of this WAF and vulnerability scanning and malware scanning and automatic virtual patches and hardening engines has the potential for robust security that can be fully managed by customers in the Comodo cWatch Web service.

This cWatch WAF also blocks brute force attacks and malicious bots, making it an ideal solution for botnet attacks. You can also protect account registration forms as well as login pages from various attack vectors, including application denial of services, web scraping, and reconnaissance attacks.

Let’s look at other web security features that Comodo  offers:

  • Secure Content Delivery Network ( CDN)To improve the performance of websites and web applications, a global network of distributed servers is used
  • Malware Monitoring and ResolutioncWatch can help identify malware and provide methods and tools to eliminate it.
  • Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC).The center is comprised of certified cybersecurity professionals who provide round-the-clock monitoring and remediation services.
  • PCI ScanningAllows merchants and service providers to remain in compliance with PCI-DSS
  • Security Information and Event Management (SIEM).Advanced intelligence that leverages current events and data from over 85M+ endpoints, and more than 100M+ domains
  • Protection against the OWASP Top TenThe OWASP Top Ten is a list of top website attacks compiled by web communication experts to reach a consensus about the most serious threats.