What Are Bots, Botnets, and Zombies? How to Protect Yourself?

Computer attacks are constantly evolving, and the tech industry has developed many industry terms that may sound similar to the ears of the layman. Terms like a bot, botnet, and a zombie can all conjure images of silly hordes, but while related, they're actually separate terms with specific definitions. In this blog, we'll go over these common cyber threats and how they can impact your organizational security. 

What is a bot? 

A bot is an abbreviation for "robot" and denotes a type of software, application, or code script that can be controlled remotely by the attacker. This effectively gives the attacker control over your device.  

How does bot work? 

The goal of a bot is to perform the desired function for as long as possible while avoiding detection. Because of this, the user of an infected machine may not realize that their device is being manipulated remotely. Although the user is not aware, the device could spam the user's email contact list with phishing messages that will appear as if they were sent from a legitimate source. 

Although it sounds infamous, a distinction needs to be made between good and bad bots. Search engines use bots to crawl websites, so the engine can determine search rankings. For this conversation, however, we'll be referring to the malware version of a bot and the resulting consequences. 

What is a zombie in IT? 

After a device has been infected with a bot, the infected computer is now called a zombie, because it is remotely animated by the attacker. The zombie no longer has a will of its own. 

What are Botnets? 

A zombie under the control of a bot is a useful thing for an attacker, but their usefulness increases in groups. Attackers will attempt to infect tens, hundreds, or thousands of computers with the same bot and unify to perform coordinated malicious activity. These activities could include an account takeover attack to commit fraud. 

How do cybercriminals use bots, botnets, and zombies? 

Bots, botnets, and zombies can be used in all ways, and there are plenty of social engineering attacks to watch out for. Some of the most popular include: 

• Use of robots to send spam or phishing emails. 
• A bot can send personally identifiable information to the attacker, helping them steal the identity of the device owner. 
• Performing denial of service (DoS) attacks. A DoS attack is when a cybercriminal orders their botnet to flood a website all at once. Bots will repeatedly perform actions on the website, such as filling out web forms, contacting the business, and clicking through pages. The aim of the attack is to overload the resources of the site and cause it to crash. 
• Sometimes the botnet is leased to another cybercriminal who has a specific target in mind. 

How to protect yourself against Botnet attacks 

Like all security challenges, there is no silver bullet to protecting your device from all attempts to infect it with a bot. However, there are some basic strategies that can significantly reduce your risk. It's about : 

• Don't click on links in unsolicited emails 
• For businesses, a secure anti-fraud solution is essential to fight against zombie attacks 
• If an email looks suspicious, it is. Don't click on links, even from friends and family, if they seem fraudulent or suspicious. 
• Set your anti-virus or install total security to update automatically when a patch is released. Staying up to date will eliminate many known vulnerabilities in your system. 
• Sign up for options multi-factor authentication as far as possible 

Make sure you follow these strategies at all times and train your employees to do the same. It only takes one wrong click to infect your device, so vigilance is important.