Indestructible botnet infects 4.5 million PC's.

Researcher Sergey Golovanov has warned that a botnet named TDL-4, but also known as TDSS and Alureon, is "the most sophisticated threat today".

A botnet is a network of home computers that have been infected by a virus that allows a hi-tech criminal to use them remotely. Often botnet controllers steal data from victims' PCs or use the machines to send out spam or carry out other attacks.

TDL-4 is thought to have infected 4.5 million PC's, 5% of which are in the UK.

On the Kaspersky site, Golonav wrote; "The owners of TDL are essentially trying to create an ‘indestructible’ botnet that is protected against attacks, competitors, and antivirus companies."

One reason the botnet is so difficult to take down is the communications between the infected computers and the command and control centre are encrypted, and can also be controlled via P2P in case the control servers are knocked offline.

Story Source: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/368377/indestructible-botnet-wipes-out-other-malware

Posted in: IT News