Million Linux Kernels Simulate Botnet
Aug 04, 2009
The biggest botnet to date is being virtualized using a network of one million Linux kernels. The virtual machines form an experiment in studying the origins of the malware.
Everything in the study by the Sandia National Laboratories is virtual: the servers ready to be infected by malware, the users clicking on virtual e-mail attachments and one million computers simulating the Internet. The massive experiment at the lab in Livermore CA has yielded results on how a nefarious botnet can come about, according to a report in LinuxInsider.com.
Even while the data from the $100,000 experiment is being analyzed, Sandia National Laboratories is planning further tests using its Red Sky supercomputer, this time with 10 million Linux kernels.