botnet

[bot-net]

noun

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.

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 of botnet

The attacks are often coordinated by a botnet, a web of compromised computers acting at the whim of the hackers behind the attack.
Did Russian Authorities Shut Down Ustream?
Ben Jacobs, Anna Nemtsova
May 9, 2012

Historical Examples of botnet

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

(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

Word Origin for botnet

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