Jason Adler, the Semalt Customer Success Manager, says that bot attacks are the most complicated and famous types of cybercrimes these days. They let the hackers and spammers take control of your computer devices and turn them into zombie computers in no time. Zombie computers then perform a variety of functions and act as powerful botnets to commit several types of online crimes and frauds, spread viruses and generate spam.

What is a Bot?

Bots are a type of malware that lets attackers control and infect your computer or mobile device. They are also called web robots and are a part of a network with lots of infected machines. This network of infected machines has access from hundreds to thousands of computer or mobile devices all over the world. As bots infect computers and mobile devices, a botmaster is always behind all these infections. The cybercriminals aim to interfere with your online activities and steal your data. They are often called bot herders or botmasters.

Some of the botnets may have a few compromised devices, while the other have from a dozen to thousands of zombie computers at their disposal. Various computers are infected every day, and the users don’t express any concern, which means they have no an idea of whether their machine is safe or not.

A single bot or group of bots (also known as botnets) can slow down your computer or mobile device, display mysterious and strange messages and crash your machine in no time.

How Botnets Work?

The bots can sneak onto your computer in a lot of ways. They often spread on the internet via the search engines. Some of them transfer from the infected computer devices to the non-infected machines. Botnets and bots are quick at infecting a large number of machines and report back to the masters that they have achieved their goal. They aim to stay hidden inside your computer system until the master instructs them to carry out a specific task.

Protection Against Bots and Botnets:

To safeguard your devices against the botnets or bots, you should keep in mind the following tips:

• 1. Install top-rated security software:

It’s good to install a security program or tool such as Norton Internet Security or Norton 360. Both of them are authentic and reliable, and a lot of IT experts recommend these tools due to their well-versed options and characteristics.

• 2. Configure the settings to update:

We suggest you to configure the settings of your software to update automatically. This will maximize your safety and will ensure that your username and password are protected years after years.

• 3. Increase the security settings in the browser:

Whether you use Firefox or Google Chrome, you should increase your security settings in the browser and do not click on the email attachments until you have verified its source. Sometimes, the users click on suspicious attachments and their systems get compromised in no time. Moreover, you should never open the adult websites and should avoid opening the banner advertisements.