BotHunter

BotHunter is a network security tool and system designed to identify and profile hosts engaging in malicious botnet activity within a monitored network. Developed by Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab, BotHunter employs a signature-less approach by correlating network-wide traffic patterns to infer botnet infections. It focuses on identifying hosts exhibiting multiple stages of the botnet lifecycle, such as reconnaissance, command and control (C&C) communication, and payload delivery.

Instead of relying on known malware signatures or IP blacklists, BotHunter analyzes network traffic flows, comparing communication patterns against a model of typical botnet behavior. This allows it to detect new or unknown botnets.

The system typically involves passive monitoring of network traffic, capturing data from network taps or span ports. The captured data is then analyzed by a set of traffic analyzers that look for specific patterns indicative of botnet activity. These patterns, when correlated across multiple hosts within the network, raise suspicion and can flag a host as potentially infected.

Key features of BotHunter include:

• Signature-less detection: It doesn't rely on pre-defined signatures of known botnet malware.
• Behavioral analysis: It identifies botnet activity based on the network behavior of infected hosts.
• Correlation: It correlates network traffic patterns across multiple hosts to increase accuracy and reduce false positives.
• Botnet Lifecycle Modeling: It detects bots through their stages of infection.
• Scalability: Designed to monitor and analyze large networks.

BotHunter provides security analysts with insights into potential botnet infections, enabling them to investigate and mitigate the threat effectively. While not a replacement for traditional anti-virus or intrusion detection systems, BotHunter complements them by providing an additional layer of defense against botnet threats, particularly zero-day botnets or those that employ evasion techniques. The output generated by BotHunter usually provides contextual information regarding the botnet activity. Security analysts can then use this information to take appropriate remediation steps like isolating the compromised host, blocking communication with known C&C servers, and cleaning the infected system.