The DDOS utility is, Infosecurity understands, a swarm botware application that sets out to overload the Internet connections to a variety of pro-Hamas Web sites. This places the aptly-named Patriot utility firmly into the area of botnets although, unlike most hacker botnets in the wild, the application can be updated by the user - either automatically or manually - and even has an uninstall option. Unconfirmed reports suggest that, within a few days of the Patriot botnet being released last week, the application had more than 8,000 users. Israeli newswire reports suggest that the Patriot botnet was developed from scratch by a group of students. In use, the botnet application appears to use Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels to communicate. The SANS Institute, meanwhile, says that it could be difficult for PC users to control exactly what their machines are doing when the botnet is installed, although - at the moment - the organisers appear to be quite open about the application's intentions.