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botnet

[bot-net]
See more synonyms for botnet on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a network of computers created by malware and controlled remotely, without the knowledge of the users of those computers: The botnet was used primarily to send spam emails. Hackers built the botnet to carry out DDoS attacks.
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Origin of botnet

1990–95 in earlier sense “a network of bots”; bot1 + net(work)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for botnet

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The attack was accomplished by means of a botnet, and for that I felt bad, but it was in the service of a good cause.

    Little Brother

    Cory Doctorow

  • There are so many infected PCs on the Internet that the price of hiring an hour or two on a botnet has crashed.

    Little Brother

    Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for botnet

botnet

noun
  1. (sometimes with a capital) a network of computers infected by a program that communicates with its creator in order to send unsolicited emails, attack websites, etc
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Word Origin

C20: from (ro) bot + net (work)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012