Q4 2021 saw the appearance of several new DDoS botnets. A zombie network, named Abcbot by researchers, first hit the radar in July, but at the time it was little more than a simple scanner attacking Linux systems by brute-forcing weak passwords and exploiting known vulnerabilities. In October, the botnet was upgraded with DDoS functionality. Then in December, researchers at Cado Security linked the botnet to the Xanthe cryptojacking group. This is further evidence that the same botnets are often used for mining and DDoS.
