Pandemic' that can take the world by storm

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Once again, a new ' mysterious ' disease has reared its head in China. This disease , like Corona, is now spreading rapidly in China and due to it, the lives of the whole world have increased. In such cases, as we have seen, the disease spreads from one country to another , then often the virus of the disease enters our body , but we do not see the symptoms of the disease, so we remain in the dark about the disease.

Now we don't want to add to your worries , but let's talk about what kind of ' disease ' is spreading in computers or smartphones.

Like infectious diseases, many types of viruses don't just stay inside a computer and cause damage to that computer. Now that most computers are connected to the Internet , viruses in our computers can harm us and others in many different ways by connecting to other, Internet-connected computers , smartphones, and other devices.

In the parlance of technology , such networks formed of computers infected with viruses and connected to each other are called ' botnets ' . What's more troubling is that hackers control such botnets and thus , the computers-smartphones etc. involved in them. It could even be that your own computer or smartphone is involved in a botnet while you are reading this and you don't even know it! Let's know what exactly this botnet is , how it can harm us and how to avoid it.

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As mentioned above, a botnet is a network of computers or smartphones infected with viruses or malware and connected to each other through the Internet. Cybercriminals can control such botnets themselves in the dark. This means that if your computer or smartphone is connected to a botnet, cybercriminals can use your PC or smartphone as they see fit without you noticing and without your knowledge. Since the devices connected to the botnet are working normally, we don't even know immediately that someone else has control over our device.

What can cybercriminals do on botnets ?

By injecting malware or viruses into different computers and connecting them together, cybercriminals form botnets and then they can perform different activities from all these computers or other devices.

For example, if your computer is connected to a botnet , cybercriminals can send spam emails that you sent to your contacts and others from your email program on your computer or smartphone .

With the help of botnets, cybercriminals can infiltrate more computers and servers with malware and viruses. Cybercriminals can use botnets to commit fraud related to banking or finance. Even well-known banks in India have become targets of such activity.

Botnets can affect computers or smartphones to a much larger extent than we think. According to a study ' Rustock botnet With the help of the world's largest botnet, cybercriminals were able to send 13.8 billion spam mails per day! The botnet was active from 2006 to 2011 and during that time it is estimated that around 2.4 million devices , mainly Microsoft Windows based, were affected by this botnet. After it was noticed that such a network was running , Microsoft and various US law enforcement agencies , universities etc. had to work together to break this network.

Has your device joined a botnet ?

As mentioned earlier, if your computer or smartphone is affected by any kind of virus or malware, in many cases, there may be no signs of it. But sometimes with some visible change we can understand that now is the time to free our device from virus or malware. It's worth remembering that if a computer or smartphone shows signs of a virus or malware, there's no need to assume that the device has joined a botnet.

Be alert if any of the following symptoms appear on your computer or smartphone:

See an unknown search engine on your computer ? This is a very old type of malware but still many people continue to fall victim to it. If you have clicked on a wrong site or while downloading a software whose check box needs to be removed but you did not pay attention to it, then another software is downloaded along with the original software in your computer.

Such software replaces our browser's search engine in many cases. So if you go to Google to search for something and find a confusing search engine instead, it is a clear sign of malware in your computer.

Another possibility is that whenever you open a website in the browser, you may see random advertisements. Of course, since the entire Internet economy is based on advertising, most websites have an excessive amount of ads, but malware can cause ads to appear abnormally on a seemingly normal site. Such as sudden increase in the amount of ads on sites where you used to see relatively few ads, or even if you have not opened any app on your smartphone, these are all signs of malware.

Of course there are some exceptions to note. Now many smartphone manufacturing companies and even telcos are showing their advertisements on the phone frequently. This is not malware but the result of us giving consent to that company to serve ads! It is almost impossible to remove. Ads seen due to malware can be of two types. One shows ads for real products and thus earns money from advertising networks. Alternatively, cybercriminals may send us to suspicious websites that might infect our device with more malware.

Seeing certain types of social media posts that you find relevant is also a sign of malware. As such a post addressed to different people especially in foreign countries is shown saying "Oh my god , you did this ? See for yourself... a normal person would be scared to see such a post and what is posted about him/herself . Click on the link to see it.

Sometimes it happens that we suspect a virus or malware in the computer and when we try to run an antivirus program to scan the computer, we find that it is disabled. In order for many viruses or malware to gain a foothold in the computer, the first thing to do is to disable the admin tools like the antivirus program or the task manager in the computer. This is a clear sign of malware in our tool.

Apart from this, suddenly getting a ' warning ' notice on our computer or smartphone that we are being asked for ransomware is also a clear sign that we have become a victim of malware. In a way, it's good to have such a clear indication of a malware attack because it's better to be in the dark and let cybercriminals use our devices as they please, without us knowing and taking precautions .

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In general, we can stay safe from botnets by strictly following all the general rules of cyber safety.

Keep all software , apps etc. in your computer/smartphone up-to-date with its latest version.

Especially use a good antivirus program in the computer and update it regularly.

Use the Internet Firewall feature in the computer.

Use a password that is strong and not easily cracked.

Use two-step verification for password protection.

Don't mindlessly click links on social media or other sites or in emails on your smartphone or PC!

In the case of a smartphone, if it is found to have malware, it is imperative to back up your important data and factory reset the smartphone. In the case of computers, you can also try to clean the computer with an antivirus program or completely format it.