Even wonder how hackers get a hold of millions of computers when they crash large web sites?
Well you might be surprised to know your computer could be apart of that army, and the only thing you'll ever see is it running a little slower.
To understand how this happens you'll need some schooling in hacker 101.
"A bot is a small program that sneaks into your computer via the Internet. A botnet is a network of these infected computers, all connected to the Internet that get controlled by a hacker that is called a bot master," explains Ken Colburn, of Data Doctors.
The Bot Master collects other people's computers one by one until they have an army, then they turn them into mercenaries for hire.
"They can rent them out for $10,000 an hour because they have so many machines out there that are infected and people that rent them can wreak a lot of havoc in an hour," said Colburn.
Ninety-five percent of all those annoying spam e-mails come from zombie computers.
So how do you know if your computer has gone from harmless to an infected zombie under the control of criminals?
"They work in the background so you would not see it like you normally would. Nothing pops up on the screen, you do not see anything on your e-mail out box or anything like that. They are just silently working in the background," said Colburn.
Some signs you can look for is that your computer starts taking a long time to start up or the hard drive light is flashing even though you're not asking the computer to do anything.
Sadly experts say anti-virus programs and firewalls won't always protect you from these bots.
"These hackers that are building these botnets know what you are using for protection and so they create real simple ways to bypass and side step," said Colburn.
Basically anytime you download something you are opening your computer to the bots. They hitch a ride on everything from music downloads to e-mail attachments to even what looks like legitimates updates for your flash player.
While the bots can be used to wreak havoc around the world, Colburn said it is important to remember a zombie computer also gives hackers direct access to all your personal information.
Unfortunately experts say any fix for bots out today will be no good by tomorrow because hackers stay one step ahead. To solve the problem you actually have to remove the bot and for that you'll need some help from someone who knows how to get into the inner workings of your computer.
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