A new botnet called HTTPbot just crashed onto the scene, launching over 200 distributed denial-of-service attacks in a single week.

It’s not just a new botnet—it’s a browser-impersonating, cloud-flooding ghost that slips past defenses like it belongs there.

It's not targeting major government agencies or billion-dollar firms.

It’s using a stealthy combo of fake web browsers and hijacked devices to pull off coordinated digital chaos—without tripping most alarms.

It’s going after regular companies—hosting providers, online platforms, and smaller services that depend on uptime to survive.

HTTPbot is the latest weapon in a growing trend of browser-based DDoS attacks, where botnets spoof real traffic to overwhelm targets without looking suspicious.

It's also slamming game servers with DDoS attacks, causing lag spikes and login failures.

It also sneaks onto gamer PCs via shady downloads, turning them into unwitting participants in these attacks.

Security researchers at Fortinet say the botnet spreads through malware-packed downloads, turning infected Windows and Linux devices into puppets for hire.

Once it’s in, HTTPbot disguises its traffic as totally normal HTTP requests—like someone loading a website.

That’s what makes it so slippery. Traditional firewalls can miss it, thinking it’s just another user scrolling through a page.

And it’s not a one-off. This thing is modular, meaning attackers can update it or swap parts out to adjust tactics.

That’s bad news for defenders, because it keeps the botnet adaptable—and makes cleanup more painful once systems are infected.

To make matters worse, HTTPbot’s creators are offering it as part of a malware-as-a-service setup.

So pretty much anyone with crypto and bad intentions can rent it, set a target, and let it loose.

If you’re running a business with exposed servers or web services, now’s the time to double-check everything: rate-limiting, traffic monitoring, and endpoint protection.

And if you’re a casual user, this is another reminder to stop downloading random “free tools” from shady forums.

The digital battlefield just got a new player, and it’s moving fast.