Bots: identity traits of the most prolific threat in 2005

Madrid, December 9, 2005 - In today´s Oxygen3 24h-365d, we are going to look at bots, as according to data from PandaLabs, more than 10,000 new examples have appeared during this year alone, making it the most prolific threat of the year.

Bots (or robots) are automated worms or Trojans that install themselves on computers to automatically carry out certain action, such as sending spam, turning the computer into what is commonly known as a ´zombie´.

Many bots are designed to receive and execute remote attack orders. For this reason they can take a wide range of actions depending on the requirements of their creator: attacks on other computers, downloading malicious code onto the computer, etc. In general, the aim of the creators of bots is not to infect a single computer but to create a network of computers infected with a specific bot. This can generate considerable profits, as, for example, spyware installed on numerous computers would return a host of data. This data can then be sold on to unscrupulous marketing companies for considerable sums of money.

There are several ways to install bots on systems including exploiting browser vulnerabilities that allow automatic download and execution of files when visiting a web page. The distribution method is the most dangerous aspects of bots, as many unknown specimens are installed on numerous computers the world over, with both users and security companies unaware of their existence. Given that traditional antiviruses can only tackle previously identified threats, they are unable to deal with unknown bots.

In order to combat bots, proactive technologies are needed -like TruPreventTM from Panda Software-, which can determine the presence of malicious code with no need for updates. Since August 2004, TruPreventTM proactive detection technologies have more than 23,000 unknown malicious codes, including thousand of bots.

To obtain effective protection, the question is not to replace current antivirus technologies -which are the most effective answer to known
threats- but to complement them so that the chance of either known or unknown malicious code entering the computer is constantly reduced.

Oxygen3 24h-365d,
por Panda Software

2005-12-13 17:21

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