“While many network administrators worry about the next worm, security experts are warning that a quieter but equally damaging threat is slowly gaining control of large networks of computers.
Known as bot software, the remote attack tools can seek out and place themselves on vulnerable computers, then run silently in the background, letting an attacker send commands to the system while its owner works away, oblivious. The latest versions of the software created by the security underground let attackers control compromised computers through chat servers and peer-to-peer networks, command the software to attack other computers and steal information from infected systems.”