botnet

noun

bot·​net ˈbät-ˌnet How to pronounce botnet (audio)
: a network of computers that have been linked together by malware : a network of bots (see bot entry 1 sense 2b)
Criminals link hijacked personal computers together to form "botnets"—clusters of infected PCs that spammers can control from anywhere in the world.Dave Mosher

Examples of botnet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
It was comprised from a botnet of 13,000 devices taken over by the Mirai malware, according to Cloudflare’s blog. Kate O'Flaherty, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025 The primary activity Infoblox has observed from this botnet is a flood of malicious spam emails that attempt to trick recipients into executing malicious file attachments. Ars Technica, 22 Jan. 2025 To thwart these attacks, a U.S. court authorized the FBI to delete the malware and to disconnect infected routers from a botnet without the owners’ permission. Adam Segal, Foreign Affairs, 21 Jan. 2025 In May 2024, law enforcement shut down a botnet, a network of hijacked devices, called 911 S5. Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 5 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for botnet 

Word History

Etymology

bot entry 1 + net entry 1

First Known Use

2003, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of botnet was in 2003

Dictionary Entries Near botnet

Cite this Entry

“Botnet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/botnet. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

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