25 Percent of All Computers in a Botnet?

Beckham's_Ponytail writes to mention an Ars Technica article, with some disturbing news out of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Vint Cerf, one of the 'fathers of the internet', has stated that the number of botnets online is larger than believed. So large, in fact, that he estimates that at this point one in four computers is infected with botnet software. We've discussed the rise of botnets numerous times here on Slashot, but the image of 150 million infected computers is more than a little bit sobering. With the extremely lucrative activities that can be done with botnets (such as password ripping, spamming, DDoSing), as well as reports of organized crime adopting 'cyber-terrorism' as a new line of income, is it likely that law enforcement will ever be able to curb this particular bane?

Botnets

[eviloverlordx]

Just wait until they merge and become Skynet. Then we'll really be in trouble.

25%? BS....

[Karganeth]

95% of all statistics are made up on the spot. Luckily, this statistic is one of the few 9% of statistics which aren't made up so quickly.

Me scared

[jurt1235]

That would mean that 75% of computers would not be infected, ergo that 75% of users finally got the clue of protecting their system against virusses and malicious websites. Is 75% running Linux without notifying the nerds? Hey, we nerds run the minority system here! I am switching to MS Windows right now.

(Another statistics victim)

Damn!

[Anonymous Coward]

I've got 4 computers in my house... now I've got to figure out which one of them in part of a botnet!

Aborted cliche

[Tsar]

I was going to post something about imagining a Beowulf cluster of these or of welcoming our new botnet overlords, but the bot on my computer started threateNO CARRIER

Re:Just install linux

[The_Wilschon]

Just install linux or other unix'es and it's solved. Start by convincing your friend to buy MS free computers. After 2 weeks of struggle to lose the old habits they will get used and thank you for it.

Wait. I thought the point of getting them to switch was so that they wouldn't get used.

Re:Law enforcement?

[Kufat]

I got a call from Road Runner a few years ago, when my younger brother had inadvertently set up an open relay. The conversation went like this:

Me: Y'see, my brother just installed Linux, and...
RR Tech: And now he thinks he's Net God?

Re:Bogus Numbers

[John Hasler]

> ...don't bother with/have never heard of antivirus software?

They have antivirus software. It came with the computer when they bought it four years ago.

Re:Botnets

[Sabaki]

The Terminator: The Spamnet goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic marketing. Spamnet begins to grow at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.
Sarah Connor: Spamnet fights back.
The Terminator: Yes. It launches its nigerian spam against the targets in Russia.
John Connor: Why attack Russia? Aren't they spammers too?
The Terminator: Because Spamnet knows the Russian counter-spam will eliminate all non-zombies over here.

Dr. Silberman: I'm sure it feels very real to you.
Sarah Connor: On August 29th, 1997, it's gonna feel pretty fscking real to you too. Anybody not handling 2 million messages a second is gonna have a real bad day. Get it?

Re:EVEN MORE SCARY it's 2 in 1 windows computers.

[spun]

Actually, you have not taken this analysis far enough. Next you must remove all computers owned by cats, as cats are fastidious animals, and as natural hunters quite concerned with security. My research says 10% of all windows computers are owned by cats.

Next, you can't count windows computers that have been smashed with sledgehammers. If you can't figure out why, I pity you. My research says that 17.54979% of all windows computers have been smashed with sledgehammers.

Also, it would be ridiculous to count computers that have been taken over by Skynet. Technically, they ARE part of a botnet, but this is really a seperate, and very real, very important issue. Here, my research indicates over 1/4 of all windows computers are now part of skynet, so we have to count those out.

As everyone knows, there are a significant number of aliens present on the planet, and a significant number of them are silicon based life forms posing as high end windows computers while they persue research for their doctoral dissertations on the common homo-sapien couch potato. This amounts to about 22% of windows computers.

We can therefore conclude that, if I've done my math right, 2 out of every 1 windows computer is part of a botnet!

Re:Request

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure. The following utility will detect a botnet member:

    #!/bin/sh
    [ -d /WINDOWS ] && echo "Am a bot"

If you're on Windows, you might need to install cygwin first before running it. Works really well.

Re:EVEN MORE SCARY it's 2 in 1 windows computers.

[Kelson]

My research says 10% of all windows computers are owned by cats.

Judging by some blogs I've seen, I suspect you're right.

woof

[goombah99]

The nice thing about the internet is no one knows you're a dog.

1 in 4?

[eod_punk]

Thank god I only have 3 computers then.

Re:Botnets

[geekoid]

"...feel pretty fscking real to you too. ..."

this is the internet, you can say fucking.

Re:Ramen worm

[maxwell demon]

Ramen worm? I guess it consisted of Spaghetti code! :-)

Re:Damn!

[Larry Lightbulb]

It's the one I'm using to post to Slashdot with.

It's more likely than you think...

[Anonymous Coward]

...millions of Windows systems suffer from Virus Infections, Spyware, Trojans and Adware.

Re:Botnets

[AndroidCat]

Daleks: Exterminate! Exterminate!
Cybermen: Delete! Delete!
Botnet Bots: V1agr4! V1agr4!

Re:Botnets

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

From Soviet Russia, botnet fucks YOU!

Re:for now

[pallmall1]

till the Christian Coalition and FCC get involved.

Aren't they already bot zombies?

Re:Request

[Torvaun]

How dare you suggest people use IE for security, you bastard!

Re:Request

[iminplaya]

Won't that install the WGA virus?

What about "Windows malicious software removal"?

[Joce640k]

What about "Windows malicious software removal"?

Surely these botnets should be dying in their millions every Patch Tuesday....

What happened to that?

Re:Windows Malicious software removal...?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought Microsoft was dumping Windows Malicious software removal into every PC connected to the 'net.

s/removal//

Re:Botnets

[notnAP]

--- "...feel pretty fscking real to you too. ..."
-- this is the internet, you can say fucking.

This is Slashdot. No one here has the slightest clue what fucking is.