Protecting Your Network From the Dreaded Bot Threat

The Internet robot, more famously known as the “bot,” is one of the most destructive threats to a data center’s network infrastructure. A bot is a malicious code program that can very silently enter your system either by visiting an infected website or by a download of a virus-infected software. What is really harmful is the self-propagating nature of the bot that leads to exponential attacks on systems, which creates an entirely infected network called the “botnet.”

A botnet has a botnet master who controls the entire botnet network by means of remote access. Once the access has been established, the controller can either control the network for malicious access or it can be sold to other agencies that specialize in causing damage attacks to networks. Some examples of attacks that commonly infect networks are distributed denial of service (DDOS), data theft, spam and spyware.

Prevention Strategies
In order for networks to be protected from the harmful effects of bots, data center network experts design key strategies that address protection techniques, such as using layers of defense systems so that attacks on critical systems can be prevented or at least delayed. In the case of a security breach, the strategy will adopt various security measures so that the impact and damage can be minimized.

Some of the bot identification and prevention strategies that are popularly used include:

Using Metadata: Metadata can give administrators a wide variety of information and can allow publishers to discover suspicious trends and behaviors. This gives input on the common factors in bot-based urls.

Traffic Classification: From the metadata analysis, all incoming traffic can be classified into patterns. There are two main categories that will emerge. One will be high intent traffic coming from serious customers that are looking to convert. The second one will be low intent traffic that will come from automated robots.

Worried about all things “bots”? For a data center who can assure you of a well protected network, do get in touch with Lifeline Data Centers today.

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.