Security News > 2020 > September > Botnets: A cheat sheet for business users and security admins
Botnets are used to do all sorts of malicious things, like launch distributed denial of service attacks, spread malware, and mine cryptocurrency-all without the device's owner being aware that it's been hijacked.
At their most basic, botnets aren't that different from any other malware that takes orders from a command and control server, except in this case botnet malware is less concerned with the info it can harvest from a particular computer, and more with the computing resources it can extract from an infected machine.
The focus on an infected machine's computing resource means that botnets don't just target computers: They target anything with an internet connection.
Botnets typically spread through similar methods: Looking for unsecured devices that can be logged into without having to directly attack the device.
As security provider Norton points out, good security habits are generally enough to protect computers, but when it comes to smartphones and IoT devices precautions vary, and all of them are equally important if you own the latter two types of devices.