Despite multiple takedowns, botnets continue to grow
New research from Lumen's Black Lotus Labs shows that botnets are recovering quickly from law enforcement takedowns and in some cases growing larger than before disruption. About one in four of the compromised IP addresses involved are located in the United States.
Why this matters: Takedowns feel like wins, but the numbers say otherwise. Botnets like IPIDEA get knocked down and come back bigger. That matters because these networks run on ordinary devices — home routers, smart cameras, regular computers — that their owners have no idea are compromised. A quarter of those infected IPs are in the US. That means there is a good chance someone you know is unknowingly helping attackers run scams, distribute malware, or knock services offline. Disruption without lasting damage to the underlying infrastructure is just expensive theater.
Who should care: Cybersecurity · Privacy officers · Administrators
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