The “Mobile Technology” has raised the bar of our life standards. Mobile devices can be called as “mini-laptops” just for the numerous things we do with them. We talk to our closed ones, shop, bank, and socialize with them. But our relationship with smartphones encourage hackers to exploit it. And why shouldn’t they be encouraged? Smartphones bring many opportunities for hackers to control our lives. And that’s why they have created mobile botnets to ease their job.
Mobile botnets and computer botnets work in a similar fashion. If your mobile phone does not have an anti-malware, it can be attacked by a botnet. Further, it gets added to the botnet network and is dominated by a botmaster. However, even if botnets sound scary, knowing them in-depth will certainly enable you to prevent them efficiently. Read on!
What are Mobile Botnets?
Mobile botnets are malware that target mobile devices that do not have a good anti-malware installed in it. Once installed on smartphones, they get full access to smartphone’s data and starts interacting with other botnets and the botmaster in the network. Networks are designed by cyber criminals who act as botmasters.
The first mobile botnet was detected in 2011 and the attacks were performed by two malicious game apps- DroidDream and Gemini. The malware were attached with or impostered as legit applications. They successfully compromised several Android devices. Eventually, Android versions such as gingerbread and above were immuned from these attacks.
Sooner, similar attacks were also made on Blackberry, Symbian and iPhone devices.
See Also: 5 Best Privacy Apps for Android to Improve Privacy and Security
How Do They Attack?
Hackers easily trick users to download malicious apps on through various ways:-
- Google play store or
- Send malicious links through emails or text messages.
- Through websites you visit
- Through ‘drive-by’ downloads
Once installed on your smartphone, the malware controls mobile’s root access. Further, the infected device starts sending text messages, delete files, steal data, open web pages, take photos, record video and audio, and perform HTTP flood attacks.
A mobile botnet can produce over 100,000 different IP addresses in an HTTP flood attack. Such attacks make it tough for websites to check such large traffic resulting into DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service). Every botnet relates to each other in the network and managed by a botmaster. The botmaster sends commands to botnets and they act accordingly.
Effects of Mobile Botnets
If your mobile phone is infected by a malware botnet, it will act as follows:-
- Dial and send messages to premium mobile numbers.
- It will send emails with your consent
- Install or uninstall software without your consent
- Copy your contact list to commanding server
- It will block incoming messages
- Steal confidential data like usernames, passwords, card details etc.
- Open malicious websites without your consent
In a nutshell, your smartphone will act like a slave and follow orders from its master. The attack grows scarier during time. Hence, it should be prevented.
How To Prevent a Mobile Botnet Attack
These practices are simple yet effective and can prevent any severe botnet attack.
- Download apps from trusted app stores and reputed vendors.
- Use an email attachment scanner to dodge malicious emails.
- Identify unusual behavior on your smartphones like calls being made without your consent, abrupt disconnection from network etc. Again, check your bills regularly and contact your network provider if you find anything unusual in them.
- Beware of malicious links on websites you visit.
- Do not leave your open Bluetooth connection unattended as they act as entry doors to malware.
In short, your mobile phone is at risk if it’s functioning. Hence in such circumstances, you need a perfect anti-malware to prevent mobile botnets from attacking your smartphones.
Systweak Anti-Malware is the best Android malware detection program available in the market. It entirely protects your phone and effectively detects and warns you about a malicious download. It quickly scans untrusted sources for better protection from mobile botnets. Try the Systweak Anti-malware now.