IIA Security Portal

These terms essentially all mean the same thing.  If you have ‘got one’ your computer is compromised and it can be controlled remotely more often without you even knowing.

Bot refers to the software which is loaded onto your computer which enables it to be controlled by a robot. Criminals who send out the bots use them to infect and control large numbers of computers, known as zombies, to create a network. Botnet refers to the network of linked computers being controlled by a robot.

These botnets are made available to other criminals for a fee who then use them to distribute huge volumes of spam. The spam can include ‘phishing’ emails designed to have you reveal personal details so that you identity can be stolen or you finances plundered, keystroke loggers so that a remote computer can record you every move, or they can be used to flood a website with a ‘denial of service attack’.

 

Your computer would have been compromised by you inadvertently downloading a virus or some other form of ‘malware’.

It is estimated that at any time in Australia there are in the vicinity of xxx xxx computers hosting bots. This is a very serious problem for all involved in the internet – government, your internet service provider, people who you do business with online as well as the risk it puts you at.