A slew of software companies new and old are shipping tools aimed at slowing the botnet epidemic, but the emergence of this new market is seen by cynics as an indictment of the existing anti-malware industry. With reliable statistics showing a dramatic rise in botnet-related computer infections, venture capitalists are now pouring money into startups with technology promising to find and eradicate backdoor Trojans, keystroke loggers and stealth rootkits. The latest company to cash in is NovaShield, a nine-employee business working on a specification-based monitoring product capable of identifying malicious botnet-related activities in real time. NovaShield has raised $5 million in two rounds of financing, including a small-business innovation research grant from the National Science Foundation.
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