Cybercriminals use botnets to capture PCs

Cybercriminals in India are increasingly looking at creating botnets, networks of computers aimed at attacking and ‘capturing’ PCs to spread viruses through them to other systems, a Microsoft report said.

India ranks 25th in terms of bot infections detected and removed in the quarter ended June 2010, according to the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Version 9. The report covered 200 countries and territories.

The country had 38,954 computers with bots cleaned in Q2 this year, compared to 37,895 computers in the previous quarter.

A Botnet is a network of computers, controlled by one computer (bot herder), which attacks another PC and makes it a part of its network. The main drivers for botnets are for recognition and financial gains.

The larger the botnet, the more recognition the herder can claim to have among the cybercriminal community. The bot herder can also offer services of the botnet to third parties, usually for sending spam messages.