Necurs: what is it? Easily explained

Necurs affects millions of people worldwide. Very few people know exactly what that is. We clarify it.

Necurs botnet: what is it actually?

Necurs is one of the largest botnets in the world. Large botnets usually consist of millions of computers that are networked through the Internet and can be used for numerous criminal activities.
Any computer in the world can potentially be part of a botnet. As with a virus or other malware, there are numerous ways to catch such a threat.
If a computer is infected and has become part of the bot network, the user usually does not notice it. Most of the time, the criminal owner of the botnet doesn't ask anything from your computer. Actions are rarely started for which only a little computing capacity is diverted from your computer.

The Necurs botnet has been around for several years. It usually only gets active every few months for a targeted attack.
In most cases, the botnet is used to send spam mails. The extremely persistent Locky virus was distributed among other things via Necurs.
On Valentine's Day 2018, over 230 million emails were sent via Necurs, according to IBM. The goal was probably lonely users of single exchanges.
The botnet derives its profit from various sources. The Locky virus encrypted all files on the infected computers, up to 400 euros were required to release the files. The Direx virus stole numerous access data for online banking and then cleared the accounts.
The sending of spam emails was even more sophisticated, advising private punters to a poorly valued share. The price rose briefly as a result of sudden thousands of people buying the stock. The bot network owner had previously bought several shares and then sold them again at a high profit.

In its prime, the Necurs botnet infected up to 60, 000 computers a day. Necurs is primarily targeting computers in western industrialized countries, as this is where you can get the most.
If your computer is part of a botnet, you are not automatically at risk. Often, the members of the bot network are not infected themselves, but are only used as a middleman for sending spam mails.
However, a bot network is not to be trifled with. This practical tip shows you how to find out whether you are part of a botnet like Necurs.

Read also how to check individual files for viruses online.