BT is reacting to the growing threat of
maliciousbotnet attacksby introducing software
to detect them.
BT's global Event Monitoring and Correlation service has been
upgraded to include botnet detection tools that analyse firewall
traffic to identify botnets, which are very covert viruses.
Businesses are at risk of sensitive corporate information being
accessed and could also be liable for the criminal activity, for
which botnets are primarily used, if it emanates from their
networks.
It is traditionally difficult to identify machines infected by
botnets until an attack because most botnets do not communicate
regularly with the machine that controls them. But when botnets do
communicate, they generate firewall traffic and can be identified
by monitoring and analysing this traffic.
BT's tools will identify machines within an organisation's
network that are under the control of botnets and assist with
removing the viruses.
Jeff Schmidt, vice-president and general manager of BT's managed
security solutions group, said: "Our botnet detection tools provide
customers with a significant layer of additional protection that
was not previously available."
Research shows there are more than seven million botnet attacks
worldwide on a typical business day.
Earlier this week Brazilian authorities charged a man for
selling access to a
100,000-PC botnet of zombie computers, which could be used to
send spam and commit identity theft. Earlier this month Russian
hackers tried to create a botnet network to
attack Georgian government websites, during the Russia-Georgia
conflict.