In an attempt to combat the growing problem of the botnet pandemic, the security company Symantec released today its first solution to address this specific issue. NortonAntiBot will scan your system and applications and will remove any bot or other malware.

In the security jargon, a bot is piece of software which is able to install itself in systems and turn them in “zombies”. Once it becomes a “zombie”, a system can execute new commands issued remotely by the bot masters. If the bots are not properly removed, they can reinstall themselves, making them particularly difficult to destroy.

Symantec claims that in order to protect users Norton AntiBot uses active behavior-based heuristic detection system that is always on. This technology constantly analyzes the behavior of files and applications to ensure that otherwise invisible malware is tracked and eradicated as soon as it exhibits harmful behavior.

After analyzing security reports, Symantec believes that millions of bot-infected PCs are in existence today, with the vast majority of these users having no idea of what's going on behind the scenes of their own computer.

Also, the security company said that during the last six months of 2006 there were more than 6 million active bots, which is an approximately 30 percent more zombie computer than observed in the previous six-month period.

"Consumers need to know that they may be directly implicated in the criminal activities being perpetrated by botnets -- if not by having their own identity or personal information stolen, then by being part of a network of zombie PCs carrying out large scale criminal activities like massive spam distribution and phishing email schemes," said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Products Division, Symantec

Norton AntiBot is already available for an estimated retail price of $29.99USD, which includes a one-year subscription to Symantec's protection updates.