A Survey of Botnet Technology and Defenses

Abstract

Global Internet threats have undergone a profound transformation from attacks designed solely to disable infrastructure to those that also target people and organizations. At the center of many of these attacks are collections of compromised computers, or Botnets, remotely controlled by the attackers, and whose members are located in homes, schools, businesses, and governments around the world [6]. In this survey paper we provide a brief look at how existing botnet research, the evolution and future of botnets, as well as the goals and visibility of today’s networks intersect to inform the field of botnet technology and defense.