Net of the living dead: Hacker-controlled zombie devices triple in Singapore

The sharp rise in botnet drones and the servers controlling them could be due to cyber criminals seizing opportunities created by the pandemic. — Moritz Erken on Unsplash

SINGAPORE: “Zombie” devices linked to the Internet, and infected with malware that allow hackers to control them and launch cyberattacks, have tripled their numbers here amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest government findings.

An average of 6,600 of such malware-laced devices, also called botnet drones, were observed here last year on a daily basis, a big jump from 2,300 in 2019, said the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) in a report released on July 8.