If you make use of any kind of technology that connects to the Internet, there is a chance that you are part of a botnet. But… What is a botnet?

Cybercriminals create networks of hundreds or thousands of “zombie computers”, which have been infected with malware in order to control them synchronously and remotely all at once.

Why does a cybercriminal want a botnet?

The cybercriminal who runs and manages the botnet is known as a botmaster and his interests can be very varied:

• Performing DDoS attacks: Probably the most common use of botnets, cybercriminals make use of a portion of the power of infected computers to perform distributed and synchronized attacks against a service or website.
• Massive spamming: They often use their botnets to send massive spam, and might even take advantage of this spam to perform some kind of scam such as phishing or spread their malware to make their botnet grow.
• Information theft: Attackers use automated systems that could inspect your device’s files for any type of credentials, which could lead to financial fraud or identity theft.
• Infecting your computer with advertisements: This way the botnet owner would receive revenue at the cost of you having your computer plagued with advertisements.
• Cryptocurrency mining: Using part of your computer’s power to mine cryptocurrencies, which usually results in slower computers.
• Storing illegal content: Making use of a certain amount of space on your hard drive to store illegal material.

How to prevent being part of a botnet?

The measures are the same as when talking about avoiding being infected by any type of malware:

• Use security tools: Using antivirus or firewall will always be another barrier to protect the security of our computers. If you use Windows, this includes Windows Defender which is a great option as an antivirus and has very good reviews.
• Have our system updated: Updates bring security patches that can prevent you from being part of a botnet, recommended to have our operating system and programs always updated.
• Avoid downloading programs from unofficial sources:Anyone can change the code of a program and introduce a rootkit in it to have control over your computer, downloading our programs from the official website of its developers will avoid the risk of a third party introducing malware in it.
• The pages we visit: There are pages that are programmed so that the moment you click on any element of its content, it starts downloading an infected file. If you get pages that are not the ones you wanted to visit and ask you to click on something or install some kind of browser extension, you should simply close it.
• Social networks: On social networks like Instagram or Facebook there are thousands of bots accounts, which try to get you to enter their profile and click on a link in their biography. Nunca deberías entrar a esos enlaces y sería recomendable reportar dicha cuenta por el bien de la comunidad.
• Sentido común: Obviamente no podemos confiarnos por el mero hecho de tener antivirus.

¿Qué síntomas tiene un equipo al pertenecer a una botnet?

The user probably does not know that he is part of a botnet, although there are certain indicators that could be key to suspect it. Although you could be inside a botnet and not have any symptoms.

• Your computer or Internet connection slows down.
• A lot of advertising appears.
• Strange windows and screens appear.

How do I know if I am in a botnet?

A tool that I have been recommending for some time and that has confirmed to several of my acquaintances that they were in a botnet, is the AntiBotnet service, this service is made available to us by the Office of Internet Security (OSI) , which is part of the Instituto Nacional de Ciberseguridad (INCIBE).

This service has a large database that records the IP of networks in which any device has been part of any crime or attack linked to a botnet.

Their tool couldn’t be simpler, you go to their website https://www.osi.es/es/servicio-antibotnet and hit the button that says Check your connection..

When you click this button a window opens asking you to accept their conditions, accept them and you will click Check my connection and in a few seconds it will tell you if your IP is part of a botnet that they know.

Another recommended check would be to do it from our cell phones and with the WiFi disabled, to check if the IP of our data plan has also been part of a botnet.

What to do if I am in a botnet?

Many antivirus will recommend you to make use of their service to stop being part of it. But the truth is that a good malware has the ability to spread and infect more computers in your home network automatically. The most advisable thing for me would be to format all the computers in your home network to be able to be 99% safe.

Remember that this not only includes cell phones or computers, but any device that connects to the Internet as there are botnets that are designed to infect any type of device of the Internet of things (such as light bulbs, cameras, washing machines, home automation, etc …).

I hope you have learned from this article, I have written it trying that anyone can understand it and check if it is part of one of these botnets. And thus to be able to help more people to be protected. If you have found it useful you would do a great favor if you share it. Thank you!