assignment 1

Discussion 1

The term Botnet is delivered from two name – robot and network; Botnet is used to refer to a network of infected computers with a malicious program that allows the facility of the cybercriminals to control the infected machine remotely without user consent. A botnet is one of the most dangerous threats to security on the internet since they are international (Kartaltepe, 2010). Botnet allows the hacker to access all users' operations on the internet without be being noticed. Thus, the Botnet attack can be said to be the mother of all cyber-attacks in the information systems.

The security threat from Botnet is growing in terms of number and sophistication; the botnet-master has become more skilled; thus, they are able to release a more powerful virus, worms, Trojan horses, and network intrusions. The botnets are numerous, complicated, have better tools, hard to identify, and are large; hence the attack can be made through the command of individual zombies to conduct any form of attack in the computer or network systems. Some of the key attacks facilitated by the Botnet attack include, by not limited to, the following.

The Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) attacks; in this case, the attackers try to make computer resources to be unavailable to the intended users (Khosroshahy, 2013). Spamming is another risk that Botnet attacks facilitate, where multiple messages are posted to the recipients who haven't requested the message. Phishing and identity theft are other key risks that the Botnet attacks create; in this case, the attackers get into the main account of the organization and start sending emails to the clients to access certain information using the name of the organization.

Discussion 2

Botnet Attack can be defined as the collaboration of internet connected devices which is attacked by malware. This can allow the hackers to control the devices and withdraw the information from the active systems. Cyber crime criminals use botnets as a platform to steal the information of the users for unauthorized access to perform malicious activities. Botnets are also used to perform distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack).

The impact of botnets may affect the users both directly and indirectly. Often criminals infect the control of thousands of machines and act as a large zombie network or bot network. In many other cases, criminals sell the access to zombie machines to other hackers as zombie network to other criminals. Botnet infected machines engage in many illegal activities such as spam distribution, theft of sensitive data and other important information which launches denial of service attacks and can spread new infections to many other systems. Users are lacking in the awareness and education in cyber security crimes. So, it is being very difficult to control and stop botnets. Also, this is a global problem, hackers can collaborate between nations to cheat.

Most affective ways to protect organization or personal information from botnets is to use firewalls. Firewalls are the first layer of defense for basic cybercrimes. Updating the software with latest versions can prevent the loss of information. Managing admin rights is a good practice to lead toward better security against attacks. Last but not the least is, educate the employees about phishing and its effects.

1.Evaluate one pro and con above proposed above discussions

Response Requirements:

1. Be 1 paragraphs in length for each Discussion

2. Your responses to above discussions must be more than a simple "Good job" or "I agree with your post". They must also not just be "Let me add to your post..." Instead, your responses to each other should do three things:

1. Acknowledge the above discussions with some form of recognition.

2. Relate the discussions to something you have learned or are familiar with

3. Add to the conversation by asking additional questions about the discussion, or discussing the topic further.