  Botnets continue to be an active threat against firms or companies and
individuals worldwide. Previous research regarding botnets has unveiled
information on how the system and their stakeholders operate, but an insight on
the economic structure that supports these stakeholders is lacking. The
objective of this research is to analyse the business model and determine the
revenue stream of a botnet owner. We also study the botnet life-cycle and
determine the costs associated with it on the basis of four case studies. We
conclude that building a full scale cyber army from scratch is very expensive
where as acquiring a previously developed botnet requires a little cost. We
find that initial setup and monthly costs were minimal compared to total
revenue.
