Cybersecurity is an aspect that, for a long time, continues to be openly improved. All this due to the increase in the frequency of cyber attacks, something that Cloudflare’s team of subject matter experts have detected. Given this, last weekend they warned about the presence of a botnet or network of bots with great “power”.
As expected, the term botnet born or coined in the English dialect. Practically, it can be translated into literal Spanish as botnetbeing a strategy or component widely used in cyber attacks.
Regardless of the size of the botnet, are capable of wreaking havoc or triggering malicious events of all kinds. On the other hand, they have the quality to run autonomously and automatically. However, the architect or whoever is pulling the strings in the dark, acquires full control of the infected machines, systems, servers and/or computers.
As a result, an individual can remotely take control of a myriad of systems, as they choose. Then, depending on the capacity of the cyberattack or the intentions, it causes everything from the spread of simple spam to DDoS attacks. Even, it is not surprising that, displaying a botneta file is extended malware with ease
absolutely all the botnet They have the potential to be terribly dangerous and that’s what Cloudflare is talking about. This time around, they discovered a novel, but relatively small, devastating botnet. Starting from that tone, it was nicknamed as Mantis and is already on the radar of the experts.
Although preliminary investigations or conclusions seem to show its recent appearance, there are other indications. The latter establish that it can derive from another botnet already studied; the popular Meris. However, the contrast between the two is evident, since Meris has around 5,000 more bots under her flora than Mantis.
Even so, it is striking that, with that number of bots suppressed, Mantis has the power to launch high-caliber cyberattacks. Fortunately, to the satisfaction and protection of Internet users, Cloudflare has been able to act quickly and mitigate the harmful effects of this botnet. However, there is a high probability of latent danger.
Mantis and the largest recorded DDoS attack to date
In June 2022, what is, to date, the largest DDoS attack in history was detected. And yes, it was caused by Mantis using a different protocol than the conventional one, replacing HTTP with HTTPS.
To get an idea, a DDoS attack (Distributed Denial Of Service, for its acronym in English) prevents the proper functioning of a server or servers. Basically, the botnet allows the passage of a data flow greater than what they can support, causing their fall. Together, all those web pages subscribed to them, will also weigh this fact.
On this occasion, Mantis was able to produce a flow of up to 26 million requests generated per second. But, as it became clear, Cloudflare’s panel of experts completely disabled its powers. Additionally, they clarified that the method used by this botnet get around or avoid the obstacles that a DDoS attack represents in HTTP, migrating to HTTPS.
Although Cloudflare intervened on this occasion, it calls attention to cybersecurity, because the botnet they continue to evolve. So far this year, approximately 20% of Internet users or large servers in the United States are affected. There is even evidence that up to 15% of individuals or companies in Russia also enter the lot.
It is necessary to be aware of the botnetbecause usually DDoS attacks are just the tip of the iceberg. In reality, they can be the beginning of a distraction for other malicious processes like distribution of ransomware or data leak.
