Collective Botnet Mitigation Efforts: Industry Self-regulatory Efforts
In this lesson, the focus is on botnet mitigation through industry collective action. The lesson explains what a botnet is, describes the threat they pose, and discusses the industry and government efforts to combat them, especially through national anti-botnet initiatives. Additionally, it explores the factors that influence the success of botnet cleanup campaigns.
1. What is a Botnet?
• A botnet is a network of compromised computers (also called zombie computers) that are under the control of an attacker. These compromised machines are used for various criminal activities, including:
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
• Spam delivery.
• Generating fake clicks on advertisements for fraudulent revenue.
• The owners of the compromised machines are usually unaware that their computers are being exploited.
2. How Botnets are Created:
• Attackers use various scalable exploits to compromise a large number of machines. Common tactics include:
• Scareware: Programs that trick users into installing fake antivirus software, which is actually a Trojan horse.
• Once the malware is installed, the botnet code operates in the background, connecting the compromised machines to command and control (C&C) servers, allowing the attacker to manage the network remotely.
3. Two Main Methods to Combat Botnets:
• Take Down Command and Control Infrastructure: The quickest and most effective way to stop a botnet is to cut off the head, meaning taking down or seizing control of the C&C servers. Without the C&C infrastructure, the botnet cannot function.
• Fixing the Infected Machines (Zombies): Another approach is to eliminate the appendages, which involves cleaning up the infected computers. However, this process is much slower and more challenging, and as long as infected machines remain, they can be re-compromised by new botnets.
4. Industry and Public Authority Collaboration:
• Starting in 2010, public authorities began pressuring Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to take a more active role in combating botnets. ISPs can:
• Identify infected machines on their networks by monitoring their behavior.
• Contact the owners of infected machines and provide assistance with cleanup.
• Quarantine infected machines to prevent them from infecting others.
• This led to large-scale cleanup campaigns, particularly through national anti-botnet initiatives, where ISPs, cybersecurity organizations, and public authorities collaborate to notify affected users and help them clean up their machines.
5. National Anti-Botnet Initiatives:
• Countries like Germany have established anti-botnet centers, such as Botfrei. These initiatives:
• Identify users with infected machines and notify them through their ISPs.
• Offer free cleanup tools, support via websites, discussion forums, and call centers.
• However, despite the industry’s efforts, the actual cleanup action still depends on the end user, as it is often illegal for ISPs or public authorities to directly fix infected computers.
6. Impact of Anti-Botnet Initiatives:
• A study conducted by Dutch researchers evaluated the effectiveness of national anti-botnet initiatives by analyzing cleanup rates for a large botnet. The findings showed that while these coordinated efforts did encourage cleanup, they did not have a statistically significant impact on the decline in infected machines for that specific botnet.
• Two key factors that influenced the success of botnet cleanup were:
1. Use of Unlicensed Software: Users who relied on unlicensed software were less likely to receive automatic security updates and patches, making their systems more vulnerable to botnet infections.
2. ICT Development Levels: Countries with higher levels of ICT infrastructure, skills, and literacy were more successful in mitigating botnets.
7. Key Takeaways:
• Botnets represent a significant threat to the cybersecurity ecosystem, affecting anyone connected to the internet. They are often compared to public health threats in terms of their contagious nature.
• While industry and public authorities have worked together to combat botnets through collective action, the overall cyberspace ecosystem — particularly the presence of unlicensed software and the level of ICT development — plays a larger role in determining the success of botnet eradication.
Conclusion:
This lesson provides an overview of botnets and the collective efforts by the industry and public authorities to mitigate them. It highlights that while national anti-botnet initiatives have made progress, other factors such as the quality of the ICT ecosystem and software licensing practices play a more critical role in successfully combating botnets. The lesson emphasizes the importance of collective action but also underscores the need for continuous improvement in the overall cybersecurity infrastructure to effectively manage this persistent threat.
