Cybercriminal Organizations : Utilization of Botnets

Abstract: Botnets, networks of hundreds to millions of computers, controlled by one or more individuals, increasingly play a part in cybercrimes, with astonishing results. The access of a botnet gives the controller abilities of a large majority of all the cyberattacks over the internet, and with the possibility of buying a complete botnet, this opens the market to nontechnical criminals. The Darknet and the market it provides, enable the buyers to buy and trade everything from botnets and malware to complete schemes.   The increase in cybercriminal activities and organizations has been alarmingly high in recent years, and no wonder, when criminals just need to invest a small amount of money to gain potentially millions of dollars without any advance knowledge of computer science, and with only a slight chance of getting caught due to the anonymity of the internet and botnets.   Based on a literature review combined with a critically reflective analysis of a selection of information about botnets from other sources available on the internet, this paper has identified some of the main types of organizations used in cybercrime and their operations as well as basic information about botnets, the players and stakeholders in this area, the theft and schemes used by botnets and the online money laundering service involved.