Normally the owner of a botnet will intend to carry out a large scale attack. You will need to have many teams so that these attacks can be made with more force and achieve their objective. This network of robots can even be made up of thousands of computers. They can be computers, mobile phones, televisions and many more IoT devices that we have at home connected to the network.
All those computers that are part of the botnet will be connected to each other and controlled by the attacker. We can say that the attacker’s first step is to infect the device, later he manages to expand that botnet with a significant number and from there it is activated and begins to act. He will be able to steal data, spy, send messages, install applications…
What to do to know if we are affected
Do you suspect that your computer may be part of a botnet? Really almost any connected device The Internet could become compromised at any given time. It could be part of a botnet and, without the victim’s knowledge, send emails, malware or steal any type of data.
The first sign that might make you think that your computer is part of a botnet is that not work well. You will notice that it is slow, that it takes a long time to turn on or off, the fan works constantly as if it were running at full power and you see that there is really no reason for it.
Another sign is that you’ve lost control of the team for some actions. For example, you cannot open certain applications, you cannot run updates or you try to open the antivirus to perform a security scan and you see that it does not work well or it does not open at all.
On your computer or mobile you can notice it if you see that there is strange open processes, an excessive use of computer resources or you see that the battery decreases drastically without apparently anything having happened. This could indicate that your computer is part of a botnet and is being controlled by a third party.
You may also find that messages have been sent from some device without you having done anything. For example, if a contact of yours has received something or if you notice that from a social network application there has been some strange movement. This could indicate that the computer has been attacked and is part of a botnet.
Tips to be protected
After explaining what a botnet is and how it works, as well as how we can detect that we are victims, let’s go to the most important thing: what to do to avoid this problem. We are going to give a series of tips that you can put into practice so that your devices, whatever they may be, are part of a botnet.
Update all
Something fundamental to be protected from many computer attacks is to have All updated. Cybercriminals can take advantage of vulnerabilities in a system, application, or any driver that a computer uses. This can be used to sneak malware and turn your device into a botnet.
Therefore, it is essential to have everything well updated. You must ensure that you have the operating system with the latest versions available. In the case of Windows, to update it you must go to Start, enter Settings and access Windows Update. All the pending update files will appear there.
Have security programs
It is also interesting to have good security programs to avoid botnet attacks and similar problems. This will help detect the entry of malicious software and be able to take action before it can compromise the operation of systems and is used by an attacker.
What should you install? antivirus such as Windows Defender, Avast or Bitdefender are good options. However, you will find a wide range of both free and paid alternatives. You should always make sure that they work well and you can look at references on the Internet to install the one that suits you best.
use good passwords
Of course, an essential point for a device not to be part of a botnet is to use good keys. It is one of the main security barriers that will prevent the entry of intruders. Especially when you keep the default password on IoT devices you are making a mistake.
What password to use? It is interesting that it is unique, that it has letters (both uppercase and lowercase), numbers and other symbols. In this way you will make it totally random and very difficult to find out through brute force attacks and guessing methods.
Common sense and constant review
In many attacks, hackers will need the victim to make a mistake. They need them to click on a fraudulent link, download a file, or take some action for the malware to execute and become part of that botnet from then on.
Therefore, common sense is essential avoid making mistakes. In addition, it is always advisable to carry out a constant revision. It is important to verify from time to time that everything works correctly and that there are no problems.
In short, as you have seen, botnets are a major security problem. It is essential to detect when a device may be affected and of course take preventive measures so that this never happens.
