IRC botnets that use the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol are going the way of the Brontosaurus, according to a report from Internet security monitoring firm Team Cymru. Botnets are loose, global networks of compromised computers that are controlled centrally and used by cybercriminals for a variety of purposes, including spam e-mail distribution, denial of service attacks, malware distribution and advertising. The number of active botnets, overall, is increasing at a rapid pace, the report says.
Source: https://threatpost.com/report-irc-botnets-dyingbut-not-dead-111610/74677/