Ever wonder why your PC suddenly freezes, slows down or at the worst-case scenario, stops working at all? What’s more confusing is the fact that you have your most trusted anti-virus installed and yet, realized that this thing does not do its job at all, other than consuming your most precious drive space.
So how did this so-called ‘computer malfunction’ happen? Bot Net Software, as they are called, might be your typical culprit.
Bot Net Software is a type of spyware that, when installed, can gain access and control to your own personal computer, without you knowing it. There are many ways in order for a Bot Net Software to infiltrate your computer. Other people (hackers, perhaps) can trick you to install that by means of tricking you to install their ‘legitimate’ software. You can also obtain these through sites with potentially unwanted content.
The computers that are Bot Net-controlled are simply called ‘bots’ or more popularly, ‘zombies’, by the hacker world. These bots can be used by hackers in order to launch Domain’s Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks to a particular site. Since it is being usually distributed via Internet, it can probably infect a minimum of a 20,000 PCs at one sitting. And in the hands of a skillful hacker, this could be somehow devastating for their potential target/s. Hackers can then extort payment from their victims before they stop their attacks.
So without any further qualms, how can we stop these Bot Net Softwares from spreading? There are actually many ways but only three of these things only work in a very effective way: Getting an updated anti-virus scanner, getting a personalized software firewall and lastly, being skeptical of things distributed via Internet.