Botmaster

Botmaster is a term used in cybersecurity to describe the operator and administrator of a botnet, a network of compromised computers, devices, or endpoints under centralized control. The botmaster issues commands to infected hosts, typically through a command-and-control (C2) infrastructure, and monetizes the resulting actions or data. Botmasters may maintain botnets to perform a range of illicit activities, such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, mass spamming, credential harvesting, automated information theft, or cryptocurrency mining, depending on their goals and the capabilities of their botnet.

Botnets are built by distributing malware that covertly enrolls devices into the network. The botmaster designs or maintains C2 channels, which can be centralized, hierarchical, or peer-to-peer, and employs techniques to evade detection, such as encryption, fast-flux, or domain hopping. Bots connect at irregular intervals and await commands that execute in parallel across the network.

Economic and criminal aspects: botmasters may rent out botnets or recruit affiliates to carry out campaigns, sharing profits or receiving payments for access to services and data. Legal and ethical considerations: operating or participating in a botnet is illegal in many jurisdictions and is pursued by law enforcement. Researchers describe botmasters as high-value targets because of their central role in cybercrime ecosystems.

Defenses focus on disrupting C2 channels, patching vulnerabilities, endpoint protection, traffic monitoring, and rapid incident response. Understanding botmaster behavior helps defenders profile threat actors and assess residual risk after incidents.