Has ESET discovered anything big in botnets this year?

Yes, our investigation into Operation Windigo resulted in one of ESET’s biggest botnet research projects ever. Our research team uncovered a network of infected servers employed to redirect users to malicious web content, steal credentials, and send spam. We discovered that over the last few years more than 25,000 servers had been infected. At the time of writing our report, more than 10,000 servers were still infected. (Editor: You can download the award winning research paper on Windigo here.)

What are the biggest risks for home users and businesses with regards to botnets?

The risks associated with botnets are exactly the same as the risks associated with malicious software in general. The risks are varied; one can have sensitive information stolen from the electronic device, such as intellectual property, blueprints, or passwords giving access to sensitive resources (for example online games). Infected computers can also be used to overload servers or send spam.

What is a botnet, how does it work and how does it spread?

The word botnet is made up of two words: bot and net. Bot is short for robot, a name we sometimes give to a computer that is infected by malicious software. Net comes from network, a group of systems that are linked together. People who write and operate malware cannot manually log onto every computer they have infected, instead they use botnets to manage a large number of infected systems, and do it automatically. A botnet is a network of infected computers, where the network is used by the malware to spread.

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