Botnets increase 140%

According to Symantec's most recent Internet Security Threat Report, which compiles security-related data on a semiannual basis from 24,000 sensors around the world, there were 10,352 active bot networks active each day in the first half of the year, an increase of more than 140% from the previous count of 4,348.

The Anti-Spyware Coalition , the industry group striving to come up with types and risk models for spyware, defines a botnet as remote-control software covertly installed on computers that can be exploited to turn the machines into mass mailers or become part of a denial-of-service attack. Organized into botnet armies controlled through an unknown source, these networks of compromised computers are widely believed to be available for a growing range of criminal purposes, including extortion.

Security outfits - and telecom firms that find botnet traffic riding their pipes-see botnets quickly rising to the position of public enemy No.1.

CATEGORIES: 1spyware, 1botnets, 1cybercrime, 1extortion, 1report, 1trends