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However, in early December 2023, the number spiked to 35,144.

Two weeks later, on December 20, the figure rose even further, to 43,194.

A computer being guarded by cybersecurity.

On other days, things returned to normal.

Nine days later, however, the researchers observed the biggest spike yet seen, hitting 143,957 distinct devices.

The trend continued into the new year, with spikes on January 5 and 6 exceeding a million devices.

The botnets are used to scan the global internet via specific ports, in search of possible vulnerabilities.

The ports are:

80    443    3389    5060    6881    8000    8080    8081    808    8888    and others.

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