One of the most common methods of DDoS attacks is the use of botnets. This method of DDoS attacks has been around for years and has a proven track record of many successful DDoS attacks against organizations in all sectors. Sometimes referred to as “zombies,” botnets are groups of hijacked devices connected to the Internet, infected with malware, and controlled by a remote “shepherd” in an unknown location. The infected devices can be personal devices with users unaware of IOT devices. DDoS attacks are the most common use of botnets, where threat actors command every machine in their botnet to simultaneously launch a coordinated attack, in most cases a DDoS attack. The scale of a botnet can consist of millions of bots, allowing an operator to carry out attacks that were previously impossible with just one machine.
Because the botnets are under the control of a remote operator in a method known as Command and Control (C&C), where each machine receives updates to change its behavior on the fly, the “bot raider” can rent out his botnets to other attackers on underground markets. One of the main advantages of a botnet is harnessing the computing power of hundreds or thousands of machines, and because the attacks come from so many different devices, it hides the perpetrator’s origins, making it harder for them to block or track them. the most The well-known botnet is Mirai, But one of the most malicious botnets in recent years was Emotet. Emotet appears to have become obsolete in early 2021 after being shut down following a joint effort by various law enforcement agencies in several countries. But in November 2021, Emotet was revealed to be back, and throughout 2022 it wreaked havoc. Now in 2023, Emotet seems to be stronger than ever.
What is the Emotet Botnet?
Emotet is both a botnet and malware that can extract various types of data, often financial related, from infected devices. Since Emotet returned in late 2021, it has increased its activity, first by spreading through Trickbot, another botnet, and now on its own. The current version of Emotet can create automated spam campaigns that spread across the network from infected devices, extract emails, email addresses, passwords and other personal information, as well as take over the device itself. Emotet is distributed via phishing campaigns, usually containing malicious Excel or Word documents When users open these documents and run macros, Emotet is downloaded and loaded into memory, and the machine is infected and added to the botnet. Several ransomware groups, such as Conti, Quantum Locker, and ALPHV, used Emotet for ransomware attacks, and in early 2023, it was noticed In several major DDoS threat actors when they use Emotet again.
Emotet botnets frequently update IP addresses and TCP ports used for C&C communication. Emotet also frequently changes URLs that host its malware, sometimes using dozens of different URLs each day. In addition to forcing crude passwords, Emotet can spread to additional machines via a spam module it installs on an infected computer, thus turning it into a dangerous botnet that has become very popular. The names of the files through which Emotet is carried out look harmless: “Electronic form.xls”, “Gmail_2022-02-11_1621.xls”, “SCAN594_00088.xls”, “Form.xls”, “Payments 2022-11-02_1011, USA”. xls” and many other innocuous-sounding titles. In the current campaigns infecting Emotet, the malware files are presented as a new Excel attachment template containing instructions to copy the file to trusted “templates” folders, as this bypasses Microsoft’s protected view. Once the file is launched from the “templates” folder “, it immediately runs macros that download the Emotet malware, and the user’s machine is now part of the botnet.
Is traditional relief useful against Amotet?
Due to its sophisticated nature, Emotet is a botnet that is difficult to defend against. Emotet’s polymorphic nature and many modules allow it to avoid detection, and the team behind Emotet is constantly changing its tactics and techniques. Emotet downloads additional payloads in several stages and remains on the infected system, and the malware’s behavior is almost impossible to get rid of. True to the “zombie” nature of botnets, the Emotet malware spreads quickly, adapts to the needs of threat actors, and is considered violent and aggressive. Emotet continues to raise the bar as a polymorphic botnet by adding new techniques, masking malicious strings and content, and even dropping other malware to make the infection worse. on March 7God’ In 2023, Emotet was observed sending new malware spam to infect victims, in a large and distributed way, using new evasion techniques, such as zip bombing.
If Emotet is used to penetrate a network as the primary attack vector, or as a companion to another cyber attack, most traditional mitigation efforts may detect it. But when used as a botnet to launch a DDoS attack, there is little if anything traditional mitigation can do to stop it. The only way to properly protect an organization’s network from an Emotet DDoS attack is by proactively and gaining visibility of the network’s critical DDoS mitigation vulnerabilities in advance. Botnet DDoS attacks succeed because there is a hidden vulnerability in mitigation, and once successful, even a simple DDoS attack can disable an organization’s business operations and services, causing massive damage and downtime.
When it comes to a sophisticated attack, such as an Emotet attack, the damage can be even more severe. Thus, in order to have true DDoS resilience, an organization must have Full visibility into the dynamic DDoS attack surface. Continuous and non-disruptive DDoS testing of the organization’s network against all known and unknown attack vectors, including Emotet, is the only way to protect the organization’s environment.
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