Editing Botnet (section)

===Peer-to-peer===
[[File:P2P-network.svg|thumb|250px|A peer-to-peer (P2P) network in which interconnected nodes ("peers") share resources among each other without the use of a centralized administrative system]]

In response to efforts to detect and decapitate IRC botnets, bot herders have begun deploying malware on [[peer-to-peer]] networks. These bots may use [[digital signature]]s so that only someone with access to the private key can control the botnet,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal | last=Heron| first=Simon| date=April 1, 2007| title=Botnet command and control techniques| journal=Network Security| volume=2007| issue=4| pages=13–16| doi=10.1016/S1353-4858(07)70045-4}}</ref> such as in [[Gameover ZeuS]] and the [[ZeroAccess botnet]].

Newer botnets fully operate over P2P networks. Rather than communicate with a centralized server, P2P bots perform as both a command distribution server and a client which receives commands.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-9P1EkTkigC&pg=PA335|title=Handbook of Information and Communication Security|publisher=Springer|year=2010|isbn=9783642041174|editor1-first=Mark|editor1-last=Stamp|editor2-first=Peter|editor2-last=Stavroulakis|chapter=Peer-to-peer botnets|first=Ping|last=Wang|access-date=28 July 2016|archive-date=22 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622185954/https://books.google.com/books?id=I-9P1EkTkigC&pg=PA335#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> This avoids having any single point of failure, which is an issue for centralized botnets.

In order to find other infected machines, P2P bots discreetly probe random [[IP address]]es until they identify another infected machine. The contacted bot replies with information such as its software version and list of known bots. If one of the bots' version is lower than the other, they will initiate a file transfer to update.<ref name=":0" /> This way, each bot grows its list of infected machines and updates itself by periodically communicating to all known bots.