BreakingPoint Botnet Simulation
Botnet Command and Control and Distributed Denial of
Service Simulation
Safely test the C&C detection and DDoS attack mitigation capabilities of your network devices, using realistic traffic
that closely simulates active botnets
Botnets are the scourge of network administrators everywhere –
hijacked computers are used as unwitting helpers to send spam, BreakingPoint Testing Tools Provide:
steal confidential data, and launch devastating network attacks. • Emulation of botnet Command and Control (C&C) protocols
Network equipment vendors have responded by adding detection • Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks over a variety of
and mitigation capabilities to everything from border routers to protocols
application gateways. • Infection vector testing using live Security Strikes
A machine joins a botnet after being infected with the bot software.
This can happen when the user browses a hostile web site, opens a
Botnet Facts
malicious file attachment, or allows their machine to be attacked by
• Researchers estimate nearly 1 in every 10 computers is
another infected system, often through missing security patches.
participating in a botnet
Once the bot software has been executed, the infected system • Botnet-driven DDoS attacks costs businesses millions of dollars
communicates with the botnet operators over the Internet. The in lost revenue and bandwidth fees each year
infrastructure behind managing botnets is referred to as the • Many devices claim to block botnet communication and prevent
Command and Control (C&C). Simple botnets use clear-text protocols, infection, but few of them do so effectively
such as Internet Relay Chat (IRC), to communicate with the operators • DDoS mitigation is something easier said than done; few
and accept new commands. More advanced botnets, such as the network can withstand even basic DDoS attacks
Conficker series, use complex algorithms for locating their C&C and
encrypted peer-to-peer networks to download updates.
Infected machines can be used to send SPAM, launch massive denial
of service (DoS) attacks, steal confidential information, and infiltrate
deeper into the local network. Figure 1 -Botnet
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