The Command and Control (C&C) channel of modern botnets is migrating from traditional centralized solutions (such as the ones based on Internet Relay Chat and Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), towards new decentralized approaches. As an example, in order to conceal their traffic and avoid blacklisting mechanisms, recent C&C channels use peer-to-peer networks or abuse popular Online Social Networks (OSNs). A key reason for this paradigm shift is that current detection systems become quite effective in detecting centralized C&C.
['Alberto Compagno', 'Mauro Conti', 'Daniele Lain', 'Giulio Lovisotto', 'Luigi V. Mancini']
Boten ELISA: A novel approach for botnet C&C in Online Social Networks