Stay informed on botnet trends, attacks, and defenses. Get the latest updates and expert insights on botnet threats in information security.
Search across headline titles and summaries.
Background for this topic.
A botnet is a network of compromised internet-connected devices controlled remotely by an attacker through malware. These devices, known as bots, receive commands from centralized or decentralized command-and-control (C2) servers to perform coordinated actions such as launching Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, sending spam, or distributing additional malware. Botnets vary in size and complexity, often leveraging vulnerabilities in devices or weak authentication to propagate.
In information security, botnets pose significant risks including large-scale service disruptions from DDoS attacks and the unauthorized use of infected devices for malicious activities. Detecting botnet activity involves monitoring network traffic for unusual patterns and identifying communication with known C2 infrastructure. Effective defense includes timely patching of vulnerable systems, blocking C2 domains or IPs based on threat intelligence, and isolating infected hosts to prevent further spread or damage. Coordinated efforts to disrupt botnet infrastructure can reduce their operational impact.
Weekly headline count for the current query.
A Go botnet called NadMesh turned up in early July hunting exposed AI services, and the operator's own dashboard claims 3,811 unique AWS keys
TuxBot v3, an AI-built IoT botnet for 17 architectures, shipped with LLM bugs and safety disclaimers the developer never removed. Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 identified a previously undocumented modular IoT botnet framework called TuxBot v3 Evolution, and it comes with an unusual detail: the developer used a large language model to write significant portions […]
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a previously unreported Internet-of-Things (IoT) botnet framework dubbed TuxBot v3 Evolution that shows signs of being developed with assistance from a large language model (LLM), albeit with not so successful results
A Russian-speaking threat actor known as "bandcampro" used Google's open-source Gemini CLI AI tool as a hacking agent and to operate a small-scale botnet. [...]
Four compromised npm packages in the @asyncapi namespace have been observed distributing a multi-stage botnet loader, according to findings from OX Security, SafeDep, Socket, and StepSecurity
A campaign of 148 npm packages disguised as student web proxies turned visitors' browsers into a distributed denial-of-service botnet for roughly two weeks in May, according to new research from JFrog
TrendAI™ Research analyzed over 200 Gemini CLI session logs showing how a Russian-speaking threat actor used AI to run a live botnet, finishing a full C&C migration in six minutes while doing just 11% of the work himself.
AI coding assistants have a habit of making things up. Ask one to fetch a popular tool, and it will sometimes hand back a real-sounding name for a project that does not exist
Other residential proxy brands may rely on the same network
The NetNut proxy network and the ‘Popa’ botnet are known to have infected devices with variants of Mirai DDoS botnets
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said today it worked with industry partners to seize hundreds of domains associated with NetNut, a sprawling residential proxy service operated by the publicly-traded Israeli company Alarum Technologies [NASDAQ: ALAR]. The action comes roughly two weeks after KrebsOnSecurity published findings from multiple security firms connecting NetNut to the Popa botnet, a collection of at least two million devices that have been compromised by malicious software with little or no consent from victims.
RustDuck is a small, evolving DDoS botnet migrating to Rust. It uses advanced encryption, anti-analysis evasion, and exploits known IoT flaws. Since February 2026, researchers at QiAnXin’s XLab have been tracking a new malware family, called RustDuck, that hijacks routers, cameras, Android set-top boxes, and exposed servers, then uses them to flood targets with junk […]
A new two-stage malware family called RustDuck is hijacking home routers, IP cameras, Android boxes, and poorly secured servers, then stitching them into a network built to knock websites and online services offline
It’s Monday again
Canada's spy service got a judge's permission to reach into infected servers, home routers, and IoT gear sitting on Canadian soil and neutralize two foreign-run botnets
A new malware family is turning forgotten home routers into a distributed reconnaissance and proxy network, not the DDoS botnet these devices usually end up in. QiAnXin's XLab calls it AryStinger and counts at least 4,300 infected routers, a total it says is still rising
Cybersecurity firms, researchers and officials took down 106 servers and remediated nearly 15,000 sites that were infected with the malware. The post Authorities disrupt Evil Corp’s SocGholish botnet appeared first on CyberScoop.
For the past four years, a sprawling Android-based botnet called Popa has forced millions of consumer TV boxes to relay Internet traffic linked to advertising fraud, account takeovers, and mass data-scraping efforts. This week, researchers from multiple security firms concluded that the Popa botnet is linked to NetNut, a "residential proxy" provider operated by the publicly-traded Israeli firm Alarum Technologies Ltd [NASDAQ: ALAR].
International law enforcement agencies cleaned nearly 15,000 malware-infected WordPress websites and took down more than 100 servers linked to the SocGholish botnet and the Evil Corp Russian cybercrime group. [...]
JDY botnet scans SOHO/IoT devices globally to map services and targets, especially US military networks. Lumen’s Black Lotus Labs reported the resurgence of the JDY botnet, a covert reconnaissance network tied to Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups including Volt Typhoon. The network was first spotted in late 2023 as a cluster inside KV-botnet. The U.S. government […]