A number of inter- connected devices coordinated together to perform a certain task are referred to as a botnet. They are generally used for malicious purposes such as stealing data, spamming, launching a ransomware or a distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) etc.

Often used with a negative connotation, the word botnet is a combination of two words – Robot and Network i.e. a network of robots used to commit crime.

The cybercriminals who control them are known as bot herders or bot masters. They are widely launching botnet attacks for stealing cryptocurrencies and money from digital wallets, disrupting functions of IoT devices, defrauding advertisers etc. This is indeed worrisome and a serious threat to security systems.

How Do Botnets Work?

• Bot masters try to bring under their command as many infected devices or bots as possible to make a bigger botnet. This is done to amplify the impact of attack and to create an operational disruption. So the size of botnet matters a lot.
• They then use bots to completely obstruct a certain website by overloading it. Such an attack is also called DDoS attack.
• Generally designed to infect millions of devices, bot masters infect botnets into computers through a Trojan horse virus. It is injected into the user’s system when he/she clicks on a website or pop up containing malware or a malicious email attachment.
• Once the virus is injected into a user’s system, botnets then gain access to their computers, steal the information and commit cybercrimes.
• They are difficult to detect and most of the times, user might not be able to figure out that their device is under the influence of a botnet.
• Some botnets can also propagate the infection on their own, thus bringing more devices under control by infecting them.

Structure Of Botnet
There are two main forms of botnet structures.
Client-Server Model: In this structure, one main server controls the transmission of information from each client and is best for taking & maintaining complete control over the botnet. A special software is used to establish the command and control servers in order to send instructions to each client device.
Peer-to-Peer: This P2P model uses an interconnected structure. Unlike client-server model that relies on a centralized C & C server, in a peer-to-peer structure every device functions both as a client as well as server.
Names Of Some Botnets

• Zeus
• Windigo
• Koobface
• Kovter
• Flashback
• Sefnit
• ASProx
• Conficker etc.

With the increasing trend of IoT devices, it has become easier to launch a botnet attack. So, it is important to understand the working and implications of a botnet and ways in which a botnet works to prevent falling prey to such an attack.

For more information, contact Centex Technologies at (972) 375 – 9654.

There are millions of mobile apps available on the app store. However, there are certain reasons why some apps gain high popularity, become a fad and have over million users whereas some are not able to get even thousand downloads. So, it is important to analyze what makes a mobile app a hit or a failure. Here we have listed certain potential reasons due to which a mobile app generally fails.

• Poorly Researched Market & Audience

The biggest reason why a mobile app does not qualify to enter the list of most popular/downloaded apps is lack of research. This has two main causes, either failing to specify your target market altogether and marketing your app to wrong set of people or not being able to understand what your target market actually wants. Although, market research is a time taking task but it is definitely worth. It helps you channelize your efforts in the right direction.

• Lack Of Originality

App stores are already full of similar apps. So why would a user download an app created by you?
They would do so only if it has some feature which other apps don’t have. Your app should have a unique value proposition that differentiates it from others and also optimizes the user experience. Users always welcome new, innovative and useful app ideas.

• Ignoring Platforms

It is important to develop apps both for android and iOS devices. While doing app developer should keep in mind how a user interacts with different devices.

• Poor User Experience

If your app faces performance issues, takes longer time to load and has features that are difficult to access then it is definitely something to worry about. People usually uninstall an app that is not able to offer a compelling user experience.

• Improper Mobile App Testing

The biggest blunder that you can do is to launch your app without testing. It is important to test it so that all the bugs can be removed beforehand, because if you don’t, then you yourself give users a reason to uninstall your app. Hundreds of things can go wrong and the app might just crash. So it is always advisable to test the app before launching it on app stores.

An attractive yet user friendly app goes a long way. So it is a prudent decision to hire a professional app developer who understands the intricate details and possess knowledge as well as skill to develop an optimized mobile app.

To know more about mobile application development, contact Centex Technologies at (972) 375 – 9654.

If you see this post it means that BlogEngine.NET is running and the hard part of creating your own blog is done. There is only a few things left to do.

Write Permissions

To be able to log in, write posts and customize blog, you need to enable write permissions on the App_Data and Custom folders. If your blog is hosted at a hosting provider, you can either log into your account’s admin page or call the support.

If you wish to use a database to store your blog data, we still encourage you to enable this write access for an images you may wish to store for your blog posts.  If you are interested in using Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, SQL CE, or other databases, please see the BlogEngine docs to get started.

Security

When you`ve got write permissions set, you need to change the username and password. Find the sign-in link located either at the bottom or top of the page depending on your current theme and click it. Now enter "admin" in both the username and password fields and click the button. You will now see an admin menu appear. It has a link to the "Users" admin page. From there you can change password, create new users and set roles and permissions. Passwords are hashed by default so you better configure email in settings for password recovery to work or learn how to do it manually.

Configuration and Profile

Now that you have your blog secured, take a look through the settings and give your new blog a title.  BlogEngine.NET is set up to take full advantage of many semantic formats and technologies such as FOAF, SIOC and APML. It means that the content stored in your BlogEngine.NET installation will be fully portable and auto-discoverable.  Be sure to fill in your author profile to take better advantage of this.

Themes and Plugins

One last thing to consider is customizing the look and behavior of your blog. We have themes and plugins available right out of the box. You can install more right from admin panel under Custom. Also you can check out our high quality themes.

On the web

You can find news, tutorials, documentation, tips and tricks about BlogEngine.NET on the official website. The ongoing development of BlogEngine.NET can be followed at Github.

Good luck and happy writing.

The BlogEngine.NET team

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