What is the difference between bot and botnet? A bot or robot is a software to perform certain tasks automatically, usually without direct human intervention. The term was originally for the programmable devices that interact with humans using text-based commands.
Botnets are groups of computers that are infected and controlled by malicious hackers. These computer networks are often hijacked into performing various malicious activities. For instance, sending spam emails, hosting websites, stealing data, or even launching DDoS attacks.
This article explains,
1. What is a Bot? – Definition, Functionality
2. What is a Botnet? – Definition, Functionality
3. What is the difference between bot and botnet?
What is a Bot? – Definition
A bot is a software program that runs automated tasks over the Internet. Bots are frequently to perform repetitive tasks that are either too complex or time-consuming for humans to perform manually. The history of bots can be back to the 1960s. This was when scientists from MIT AI Lab created the first chatbot named ELIZA based on rules from psychoanalysis theory.
ELIZA was to simulate a psychotherapist’s conversation with human patients. Later on, they developed many other similar chatbots like PARRY and DOCTOR which could imitate human communication more effectively.
Functionality
Modern bots are often neat in internet forums, chat rooms, social networks. And instant messengers to enhance their functionality and provide additional features to their users. For example, bots in online chat rooms can welcome new users. Also, answer frequently asked questions or even moderate the chat room by filtering inappropriate content.
Some bots can even initiate conversations or perform specific functions when they receive commands from users. The most popular example of this is Siri which helps you find local businesses using your voice commands.
What is a Botnet? – Definition
A botnet (short for robot network) is an army of computers infected with malicious software. And controlled as a group without the owners’ knowledge.
A botnet allows an attacker to remotely control a large number of computers over the internet. They can control it without having physical access to them which makes it particularly dangerous.
Functionality
Botnets are often for cyber attacks such as distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Here thousands of infected computers are to make connections with a target website over and over again. Until it collapses under the pressure.
Most DDoS attacks use compromised web servers such as Apache servers running on Windows operating systems as zombies since they have higher availability than desktop PCs and laptops.
In recent years, most advanced DDoS attacks use hundreds or thousands of compromised mobile devices instead of PCs due to their flexibility and mobility which makes them harder to detect.
Botnets can also send spam email messages or launch click fraud attacks. Further, a single computer is ready to visit a particular website thousands of times. And then generate ad revenue for the hacker.
In addition, some botnets steal sensitive data by monitoring the computer’s keystrokes, logging your keystrokes, stealing your banking information and even capturing video from your webcam.
Besides, there are also botnets useful in cyber espionage activities such as stealing confidential documents and gathering intelligence. Botnets are often controlled via IRC (internet relay chat) channels, peer-to-peer networks, or even command and control (C&C) servers over encrypted channels. Botnets can be used to perform Distributed Denial of Service attacks or steal sensitive data.