Malicious Bots: An Inside Look into the Cyber-Criminal Underground of the Internet

Originally designed to sabotage or annihilate websites, computerized "bots" are increasingly being used in mass spamming events, fraud, extortion, identity theft, and software theft. Focusing on the malicious use of bots and bot herder means and motivations, this volume provides a much needed resource for understanding the scope, sophistication, and criminal uses of bots and how to more proactively protect against them. Accessibly written, but with sufficient technical detail, the book introduces botnet threats and how they function and examines the top bot attacks against financial and government networks over the last four years to reveal the who, how, and why behind them.