04
Botnets Multiply and Level Up
As we closed out 1H 2022, NETSCOUT used a unique lens to examine botnets by studying propagation, innovation, and motivations in our trove of data.
Proliferation of botnets continues at an alarming pace, with a good portion of that increase spurred by geopolitical tensions and hacktivism. Unfortunately, it looks to be a boom year for botnets.
We continue to see innovation in the botnet space as authors of older malware such as Mirai and its variants continue to keep pace with newer malware and botnet techniques found in Meris, Dvinis, and Killnet. Likewise, use of open SOCKS4/5 proxies has surged. Furthermore, direct-path attacks continue to rise in dominance as a tool of choice.