Workshop: "Tracking the Unseen: Monitoring and Investigating P2P Botnets" - GISEC Global 2026
GISEC Global 2026, 16–18 September, Dubai Exhibition CentrePeer-to-peer (P2P) botnets present a unique cybersecurity challenge because they operate without relying on conventional centralized command-and-control infrastructure, making them inherently difficult to observe, track and disrupt. This workshop introduces participants to the lifecycle of monitoring and investigating P2P botnets, from discovering and infiltrating a botnet to collecting, analysing and interpreting observations from within the network. Drawing upon real-world botnet monitoring research and case studies, the session demonstrates what researchers and defenders can learn about botnet populations, behaviour and evolution, while also highlighting the practical challenges and limitations of monitoring malicious P2P networks.
Learning outcomes: by the end of the workshop, participants will be able to explain how P2P botnets differ from traditional centralized botnets, understand the lifecycle and key techniques involved in monitoring them, recognise the types of threat intelligence obtainable through P2P botnet monitoring, understand the practical challenges and limitations of observing and measuring them, and appreciate how monitoring and intelligence contribute to the detection, investigation and mitigation of botnet threats.
Target audience: cybersecurity researchers, practitioners, threat intelligence and SOC professionals, educators, students, and anyone interested in malware, botnets and Internet threat monitoring. A basic understanding of computer networking is helpful, but prior experience with botnet monitoring is not required.
Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC), Expo City, Dubai
Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC), Expo City, Dubai,
Shankar Karuppayah is an Associate Professor and Deputy Director at the Cybersecurity Research Centre (CYRES), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which he joined as Senior Lecturer in 2016. He is also the Founder & CEO of BitRanger Sdn. Bhd., a USM cybersecurity spin-off established in October 2023 that translates research and innovation from USM/CYRES into operational cybersecurity capabilities, including OwlSight, an outsourced Security Operations Centre platform.
He obtained his B.Sc (HONS) Computer Science from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2009 and his M.Sc. Software Systems Engineering from King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB) in 2011. In 2016, Shankar obtained his PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) from TU Darmstadt, where his research on advanced techniques for monitoring peer-to-peer botnets later formed the basis of his Springer book, Advanced Monitoring in P2P Botnets: A Dual Perspective.
His research has since expanded from P2P botnet monitoring and malware analysis into broader areas including intrusion detection, cyber threat intelligence, machine learning for cybersecurity, IoT and cyber-physical security, network security monitoring, and the translation of cybersecurity research into deployable, operational technologies.