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Being part of a botnet is no fun. Your computer becomes your worst enemy, watching everything you do, collecting all of your secrets, and then delivering all that data to the bot-herder; the person who originated the network. But what does it really mean to be part of a botnet, and is there anything that can you do about it?
According to a report today from The Associated Press, Internet security company Prevx recently discovered a Web site that was being used as a storage facility for data stolen from 160K infected computers, and the discovery offers an interesting case study.
The storage site was hosted in the Ukraine and its contents showed that the botnet was harvesting data. Information found included passwords, social security numbers, credit card numbers, addresses, telephone numbers and other personal information; quite a treasure chest if you're into identity theft.
"One Southern California 22-year-old could be seen registering a domain name with
GoDaddy.com, changing his Yahoo e-mail password and ordering a meal online from Pizza Hut. His credit card number, birth date, telephone number, address and passwords are now all in criminals' hands, though it's unclear what, if anything, criminals have done with the information yet," the AP notes.
But it wasn't just individuals that were targeted. According to the article, both government and bank sites had also been compromised. The Associated Press contacted one bank customer whose Social Security number and other personal details were compromised during the attack, only to learn that he hadn't been notified by the bank.
Determine whether your PC is part of a botnet
So how can you tell if you're machine is part of a botnet and what can you do about it?
Statistically, Macs are safe from botnets, although not completely immune to all threats as we noted here. But if you have a Windows based machine, Prevx suggests you stay on the lookout for an Internet connection that seems inexplicably slow when you are online as it may be that a botnet infection is using your connection to send or receive data.
"If this happens, stop surfing, close your email software (e.g. Outlook) and try and open Task Manager by pressing the CTRL, ALT and Delete keys at the same time then selecting Task Manager," the company wrote on its blog recently. "When Task manager opens click on the Network tab and see if your PC is using the internet network connection, if it shows more than a few percent usage then this could be further evidence of something using your internet connection without your knowledge."
Prevx also suggests downloading another security product if you are suspicious, and recommends you use an alternative security product. "If your PC is infected then it is almost certain that your existing security product has already let you down."
Some of the free tools available include RUBotted (Beta) from Trend Micro, BotHunter from SRI International, or try an online virus scan with the Windows Live OneCare safety scanner.
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陷入僵尸网络（botnet）可不是什么好事。你的电脑会成为你最大的敌人，监视你的一言一行，收集你所有的秘密，然后把这些数据发送给傀儡牧人（bot-herder），也就是建立僵尸网络的人。但陷入僵尸网络到底意味着什么？有什么对策吗？
今天美联社一篇报道称，网络安全公司Prevx最近发现了一个用于存储僵尸网络数据的网站，上面存有16万台被感染的电脑数据，这个发现提供了一个很好的研究案例。
该网站主机在乌克兰，其内容显示该僵尸网络一直在收集数据，包括密码、社保号、信用卡号、地址、电话号以及其它个人信息；如果你对身份盗窃感兴趣，这里可是你的天堂。
“你可以看到一个南加州的22岁小伙儿正在GoDaddy.com注册了一个域名，然后修改了雅虎邮箱的密码，接着从必胜客订餐。他的信用卡号、生日、电话号、地址和密码都掌握在犯罪分子手中，但是至于犯罪分子利用这些信息做过什么还不太清楚。”美联社报道称。
但是受到攻击的不仅是个人，政府和银行网站也没能幸免于难。美联社联系了一位受到黑客攻击的银行客户，却发现他并没收到银行的通知。
确定你的电脑是否陷入了僵尸网络
那么如何判断是否受到僵尸网络的攻击呢？该如何应对呢？
一般来说Mac机更安全，但也不能保证万无一失。但如果你有一台Windows电脑，Prevx建议你留意网速特别慢的情况，或许僵尸网络正在通过你的网络连接收发数据。
该公司在其博客上写道：“如果网速很慢，关掉邮件客户端（比如Outlook），同时按下CTRL，ALT和Delete键打开任务管理器，切换到网络连接选项，看电脑是否在使用网络，如果上面显示网络连接超过几个百分点，那么很可能有人在你不知情的情况下使用你的网络连接。”
如果用户怀疑电脑受攻击了，Prevx建议下载一款其它的杀毒软件，并推荐使用一款非主流杀毒软件。“如果你的PC机感染了病毒，几乎可以肯定现有的杀毒软件已经不管用了。
免费杀毒工具包括Trend Micro公司的RUBotted(测试版)以及SRI国际公司的BotHunter等，或者你也可以使用微软的在线病毒扫描工具Windows Live OneCare。
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