Are there novel ways to mitigate credential theft attacks in Windows?

Botnets are a serious threat to internet security. Botnets consist of networked collections of compromised machines called robots or 'bots' for short. Bots are also called 'zombies,' and botnets are also called 'zombie armies.' Bots are controlled by nodes called 'botmasters' or 'botherders.' Bots are infected with malicious code that performs work on behalf of the botmaster or botherder.