Virtualization has been a growing trend in business computing over the last few years. Companies are able to use virtualization to reduce costs and improve efficiency. What started at the server level is also infiltrating desktop computing, with virtualized desktops now showing up in a lot of environments.
Another recent trend has been the appearance of botnets that have the ability to detect when they are being studied by security researchers. Often this study is taking place using honey pots, which are fake systems set up by researchers to be deliberately infected with malware so that they can study its behaviour.
This has lead some security experts to predict that soon it will be common for botnets to actively look for the signs of a honey pot and either deactivate those systems, or perhaps even generate DDOS attacks against the researchers.
The CTO of database security firm Imperva, Amichai Shulman, suggests that “Most honeypot machines are based on a virtualization platform (most often VMWare). By detecting this attribute of the infected platform, malware developers will probably be able to detect most honeypots out there.”
The intersection of these two trends could have a positive outcome for businesses concerned about botnets infecting their corporate systems. If botnets actually did begin shutting down when virtualization platforms were detected, then the use of virtual desktops could in itself prevent a botnet from becoming active. Continue reading Will Virtualization Protect Businesses from Botnet Infection?


A research team from two Californian universities has developed what it believes will be a
It has been a big year for the internet with social networks continuing to grow at an amazing pace, search engines scrambling to keep pace with user demand for fresh news, and as always spam and malware causing havoc around the world.
pain is currently the country with the most infected computers. A whopping 44.5% of all computers in that country are infected with malware and part of a botnet. The United States is a distant second with 14.4%. The countries with the least infections are Peru, Sweden, and The Netherlands, all who have an infection rate of less than 1%.

In February of this year the BBC World News took an
When Latvian ISP Real Host was shut down earlier this month, many believed it would have a similar effect as the shut down of McColo last November. That shutdown cut worldwide spam levels by 90% when several botnets hosted by the ISP were knocked offline. Unfortunately spam levels have since bounced back ferociously.
The 