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.
Once a botnet is established, the attacker can direct it to carry out an attack by sending remote instructions to each bot. Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 10 Mar. 2025 Threat intelligence researchers have confirmed that one of the largest botnets of its kind ever detected has installed more than a million Android consumer devices with a backdoor to leverage a number of cyber attacks. Davey Winder, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025 In its newest report, Cloudflare traced the Oct. 29 DDoS to a botnet using a variant of Mirai malware to infect IoT devices. Michael Kan, PCMAG, 21 Jan. 2025 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 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

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Cite this Entry

“Botnet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/botnet. Accessed 15 Mar. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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