Botnet Infiltration and Research

Abstract

This paper will discuss my work as a contractor for Arbor Networks. Unlike many of the Senior Individualized Projects (SIPs), my SIP concerns my experiences while working for an information security firm rather than pure research. As a consequence of that fact, this paper will focus more on the major events and challenges I faced. Some of the topics I discuss will include portions of computer science theory, but theory is not the primary concern of this paper. The goal of this paper is to give the reader some background information through an overview of zombie (bot) networks; provide information concerning the danger of botnets and their importance to security researchers; describe past botnet research; and finally to discuss my project in detail.