Zombie (computing)
The articles Bot, Zombie (Internet) and Botnet overlap thematically. Information that you are looking for here can also be found in the other articles.
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In information technology, the term zombie or bot refers to a computer connected to the Internet that is controlled and remote-controlled by hackers using worms, viruses or "Trojans", usually without the user noticing. A network of remotely controlled computers is called a "botnet", "zombie network" or "zombie farm".
PC hijacking is facilitated by users not installing antivirus software or misconfiguring their firewalls, and by operating systems or installed software having security vulnerabilities that are not fixed for a long time. Also affected are small systems connected to the Internet (such as Raspberry Pi, Banana Pi, but also surveillance cameras and smart home devices). These are often shipped with default credentials (such as user: pi, password: raspberry), which are known and should therefore be changed immediately.
These groups of hijacked zombie computers are used by the operators of botnets for illegal activities or rented out to clients, among other things for the distribution of spam mails and for attacks on Internet servers via denial of service, for hijacking further computers, for spying out access data via phishing or for disguising the starting point of attacks.
The number of zombie associations is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions. Computers with the Microsoft Windows operating system are mostly affected. Vinton Cerf, who was involved in the development of the Internet protocol TCP/IP, assumes that 100 to 150 million computers connected to the Internet are affected. Similarly, a security software vendor, McAfee, estimates the percentage of infected computers to be about 25%, or about 150 million computers. The lowest estimate is about 10%, which would affect about 60 million computers. As protection against such attacks, specialist editors recommend appropriate anti-virus software and regular security updates; for security-relevant applications, hardening of the operating system.
See also
- Botnet
- Cybercrime
