What Are Malware Bots and How to Get Rid of Them

A bot is an automated program designed to perform a specific task. Bots are also referred to as crawlers, spiders, and web-bots. Malware bots are used by cybercriminals to perform repetitive tasks and aim at getting full system control.

There can be both good and bad bots, the good bots are often used by large corporations to enhance their overall user experience. While on the other hand malware bots are mainly deployed by cybercriminals for carrying out illegal activities like unauthorized system access, phishing campaigns, etc. Additional focus points of bad bots are: 

• Replay spam
• DDoS attacks
• Log Keystrokes and password gathering
• Obtain confidential information
• Open backdoor for other malicious malware

If a bot is utilized to exploit a larger number of computer systems it is known as a botnet. 

Symptoms That Your Device Is Infected

Here are some common signs which show that your device is infected:

• Degrades device performance and slow speed.
• Annoying ads may appear out of nowhere.
• Frequent device crashing issues without any apparent reason.
• Slow response time.
• Redirection issues to suspicious and unknown websites. 

If your system is showing any of the above-mentioned signs, then it is probably infected with a bot infection. Here’s how you can guard your device against it. 

Protection Against Malware Bots

Use these simple yet effective ways to protect your devices from malicious bots and other PC infections.

1. Always use an up-to-date system. 
2. Avoid running portable devices on your system and even if you opt for one, scan them before opening any files.
3. Use a powerful system security program that can save you from all known and zero-day threats.
4. Use a complex and long password for password protecting your important files, apart from this always use different passwords for different accounts.
5. Never open any mail coming for an unknown source. Also, avoid clicking on the links and attachments included in their body.
6. Use on official websites for downloading software. 
7. In addition to this, security experts also recommend the use of an efficient ad-blocker tool. This keeps you protected from annoying and harmful ads and pop-up banners. 

If you think that your system is already infected and you want to save the data stored on it. To start with disconnect your device from the internet and then take a backup of your device. Once this is done, use a powerful anti-virus program and run an in-depth system scan to remove any viruses from your device. 

Stay vigilant and cautious to guard your device against harmful PC threats like bots.