There are few signs that indicate your computer is part of a botnet that might not be indicating something else. Any malware can cause almost all of the same symptoms that a bot can. Sometimes conflicts between programs or corrupted files can cause the same symptoms as well, but still, there are some signs that should not be ignored. So, in no particular order…

1)    Your fan kicks into overdrive when your computer is idle
This can indicate that a program is running without your knowledge and using a fair amount of resources. Of course this could also be a bunch of Microsoft updates being installed. Another problem that can cause the fan to kick in like that is excessive dirt in the computer or a failing CPU fan.

2)    Your computer takes a long time to shut down, or won’t shut down properly
Oftentimes malicious software has bugs in it that can cause a variety of symptoms, including long shut down times of a failure to shut down. Unfortunately, operating system bugs and conflicts with legitimate programs may cause the same symptom.

3)    You see a list of outbound Wall posts you didn’t send on your Facebook page (see below)

There are few reasons other than malicious software or having your account hacked that would cause this problem. If you see this happening, you definitely want to change your password and make sure you computer is not infected. Best to make sure your computer is not infected before changing your password!!! Don’t use your Facebook password on multiple sites!!!

4)    Programs are running very slowly
This can be a sign that hidden programs are using a lot of your computer’s resources. This also can be a sign of other problems. On Windows systems if there are 10,000 files or more in a single directory it can really bring a system to a crawl.

5)    You cannot download operating system updates
This is a symptom you cannot ignore. Even if it isn’t a bot or other malware, if you don’t keep your system patched your computer probably will get infected.

6)    You cannot download antivirus software updates / visit vendors’ websites
Malware often tries to prevent antivirus software from running or being installed. An inability to update your antivirus software or visit the vendor’s web site is a pretty strong indicator of malware.

7)    Internet access slows to a crawl
If a bot is using your computer to send massive amounts of spam or participate in an attack against other computers, or to upload or download a lot of data it can make your internet access very slow.

8)    Your friends and family have received e-mail message from you that you did not send
This can be a sign of a bot, other malicious software, or that your webmail account has been hacked.

9)    You receive pop-up windows and advertisements even when you are not using a web browser
While this is a classic sign of adware, bots can install adware on your computer. You definitely want to get this problem taken care of.

10)    Windows Task manager shows programs with very cryptic names or descriptions (the highlighted line is the example)

Using task manager requires some skill and research. Sometimes legitimate software uses cryptic names as well. An entry in task manager is generally not enough to identify a program as being bad. This can help you find bad programs, but many additional steps must be performed to validate you findings. Killing processes and deleting files or registry entries because you “think” it is a bot or other malware can result in the inability to even boot your computer. Be very careful of making assumptions and acting on them.

Although this doesn’t cover everything that could mean you are part of a botnet, this is a good list of the major signs you will see, and means you need to get your computer cleaned ASAP!

Chances are you know someone who has been hit by Koobface, one of the first successful social networking worms. But there are many faces to Koobface, and many ways its authors make money from it.

New research from Trend Micro details how Koobface’s creators monetize the worm through scareware or fake antivirus, click fraud, information-stealing malware, and online dating services. “Unlike in the past when we always thought of malware as one piece of malware, like Melissa or Lovebug, in today’s world Koobface is an ongoing criminal enterprise using hundreds and thousands of pieces of code,” says David Perry, global director of education for Trend Micro. “That makes it more difficult to describe to the public at large. It’s not just one file.”

And the Koobface gang uses multiple channels for generating revenue with its malware, which when it infects a machine turns it into one of its bots. “Koobface has been a fantastically successful attack on social networking,” Perry says. And its criminal model represents the type of “evil corporation” that runs today’s successful malware operations, he says.

While some botnets do their work by downloading other malware, Koobface is the revenue-generating malware for the Koobface botnet gang, according to the report (PDF).

The group is affiliated with five different fake antivirus groups, including Safety Center and Security Tool. Fake antivirus creators have been pushing their phony software via botnets recently using pay-per-install tactics. The fake antivirus software typically is installed on the victim’s machine via Koobfaces’s pp.12.exe module, which acts as a fake AV downloader.

Click fraud, in which the bad guys basically hijack search results as a way to artificially increase traffic to earn ad revenue, is another way Koobface pays for its creators. The search hijacker basically intercepts a user’s request for a URL and redirects the user to a page that registers the click fraud.

Koobface also installs a variant of the Ldpinch information-stealing Trojan that steals user credentials and then either resells them or uses them to hack Websites. “In turn, compromised sites can be rented out or used by the cybercriminals behind KOOBFACE to host phishing sites or malicious scripts,” says the Trend Micro report.

The notorious AdultFriendFinder online dating site is also a Koobface vehicle for money-making. When users click on Flash animations of chat windows, they get infected with Koobface: “It seems that AdultFriendFinder is also back to its old ways, serving unsolicited adult-oriented ads using malicious software. In December 2007, AdultFriendFinder has agreed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s mandate, which barred it from displaying sexually explicit online ads,” says the Trend Micro report. “However, as can be gleaned from our research, the site has revived its former practice.”

Trend’s Perry says he wasn’t surprised by the inner workings of the Koobface gang. “This is exactly what we were expecting to see,” he says. “The reason we came up with this [research] is that we get the question all the time of, ‘What is this doing?’ This indicates that Koobface does not just do one thing,” he says. “They are using social networking to plant malware and Trojan downloaders on millions of PCs. They then use those to create an enormous botnet, and take portions of that botnet and sell or lease it to other criminals.”

Some old botnets never die: An old-school botnet is alive and well and now silently propagating pay-per-install scams, according to a new research paper released today. SDBOT, an IRC-based botnet that has been around for more than five years, is a low-profile botnet whose infections often go unnoticed.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) botnets have slowly been fading in favor of more robust and stealthy types of botnets that use HTTP or peer-to-peer communications to control their infected bot machines. But according to Trend Micro, SDBOT and other botnets that use IRC operate almost silently. “These bot malware are neither heavy email spammers nor resource hogs. They hardly ever disrupt normal computer activities — say, Internet browsing — so their victims never notice that their computers have been infected,” Trend Micro researchers blogged today.

SDBOT mainly attempts to download other malware files, including fake AV, Cutwail bot software, the Koobface worm, the Autorun worm, and other malware — most likely for money from other cybercriminals in a pay-per-install arrangement. “It appears that this botnet too is in the business of renting out its reach and download capability to cybercriminals,” Trend Micro blogged. “The use of the pay-per-install business model is also increasing as the model is easy to use.”

It works like this: A botnet owner is paid to push and install fake AV on its already-infected bot machines, for instance.

So why use IRC technology? Trend Micro says it’s because IRC-based bot threats have basically fallen off the radar screen in favor of higher profile ones, like Waledac, Koobface, Pushdo, and Zeus, that are under the researchers’ microscope daily.

“These cybercriminals may either be interested in increasing their number of victims or in sending out spammed messages for various other purposes. This is a known malware business model wherein some cybercriminal gangs pay others to spread their malicious code. For the longest time, instead of conducting their own focused attacks, the SDBOT cybercriminal gang is keeping itself busy by responding to different business requests, such as installing FAKEAV, KOOBFACE, CUTWAIL, and other malware variants on their infected bots,” according to the Trend Micro report.

Meanwhile, fake AV has become fairly lucrative for botnets like SDBOT: Just one successful installation garners $120 in the U.S., for instance.

Trend Micro says the best way to avoid becoming infected with SDBOT malware and becoming a bot in the botnet is to avoid clicking on links sent via IM applications — one of the botnet’s favorite attack vectors. Also, don’t open unsolicited email or spam, and be sure to update security applications regularly.

You’ve probably read or heard about KOOBFACE malware propagating through social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. A lot of analysis is available online through blogs or malware descriptions. But I bet most of you probably still do not know some or all of these things about KOOBFACE.

1. KOOBFACE knows: KOOBFACE has the capability to steal whatever information is available in your Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter profile. Profile pages of these social networking sites may contain information about one’s contact details (address, email, phone), interests (hobbies, favorite things), affiliations (organizations, universities), and employment (employer, position, salary). So beware, KOOBFACE knows a lot!
2. KOOBFACE doesn’t just know you through your profile information, they also know what you look like!: Not only does the botnet steal profile information, it also makes sure to put a face to the name by getting one’s profile picture as well.
3. URLs leading to KOOBFACE malware are either in compromised or free Web hosting sites: Yep, call them cheap but the guys behind KOOBFACE are making good use of compromised and free Web hosting sites in spamming KOOBFACE-related URLs. These URLs are spammed in social networking sites with catch phrases like “funny video,” which lead to a fake YouTube or Facebook site, which then leads to KOOBFACE malware.
4. KOOBFACE zombies are made into Web servers on top of being social networking site spammers: KOOBFACE installs a Web server component into infected machines, which effectively makes the infected machine part of the malware’s distribution network. Infected machines serve fake YouTube or Facebook pages, which then lead to the KOOBFACE malware.
5. KOOBFACE zombies are able to distribute repackaged versions of the malware: KOOBFACE Web servers are able to use UPX, a popular executable packer program, to pack (compress) the KOOBFACE binaries they serve.
6. Half of KOOBFACE infections occur in the United States: This is not surprising since majority of the social networking site users reside in the United States.
7. KOOBFACE is able to block IP addresses: Probably in an effort to protect itself against takedown or snooping by curious researchers, KOOBFACE implemented a blockIP routine where traffic coming from a particular IP range is blocked.
8. KOOBFACE is able to defeat Facebook’s spam filtering: Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter have recently implemented a spam-filtering mechanism where known spam URLs are blocked. KOOBFACE tries to circumvent this by first testing if a KOOBFACE spam URL is blocked by Facebook or not.

So there, some things you may not know about KOOBFACE. If you would like to read some more about KOOBFACE, check out the article over at Wikipedia here. So while you may not have been one of the ones to be infected by it, there is a good chance you have come across it before either from a friend’s infected account or just some random person who happened to target you after getting infected themselves. While it isn’t the nastiest worm out there, it is defiantly doing some damage so if you get some weird link from a friend on a social networking site, play it safe and please do not click on it!