What Are Bots and How Do They Work?
Bots are like digital helpers on the internet. They can do lots of tasks all by themselves without any human help. Some bots do good things like helping with customer service or organizing websites. But, be careful because there are also bad bots that can sneak into your device and make it sick with harmful software.
Bots are like super-speedy workers. They can do jobs faster than people and that’s why they’re used to computer programs and websites. When bots join in things get done faster and humans don’t have to do the same thing over and over. But watch out, because bad people can use bots to do bad things like spreading harmful software. They might use tricky moves like Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) or botnet attacks.
How Do Bots Work?
Bots have their own little rulebooks and tricks they follow to get their jobs done. They pay close attention to certain signals or orders that tell them when to start. These signals can be things like special words or requests on social media.
Bots come in different types and how they work depends on their design. The three main types of bots are:
- Automation: These bots do repetitive tasks without human help.
- Computer Vision: They try to see things like humans but using computers.
- Machine Learning: They learn from patterns to give responses that are more like what a human would say.
Bots can be good or bad. Good bots help make things easier for us and do tasks on their own. Bad bots made by sneaky hackers can hurt you by spreading harmful software, stealing your private info, or turning your computer into a bot.
Kinds of Helpful Bots
The people who create bots have made all sorts of them to do different jobs from giving you support to handling tricky tasks. Let’s check out the main types of helpful bots:
Web Crawlers and Spiders:
These are like search engine bots. They look at stuff on the internet, follow links, and make lists of websites. Search engines like Google use what they find to give you good search results.
Chatbots:
These bots chat with you and help answer your questions without needing people. Some are simple and follow rules while others are super-smart and learn from talking with people. You might find them on websites, in your bank app, or even in online stores.
Monitoring Bots:
These bots watch over websites and servers to make sure everything works smoothly. Businesses use them to keep an eye on prices, stocks, and social media posts.
Personal Assistant Bots:
These bots are like smart helpers that gather info, do tasks quickly, and chat with you. They use fancy tricks like understanding human language, learning, and following rules. You might have heard of Siri or Alexa – they’re some of these personal assistant bots.
Marketing Bots:
Companies use these bots to track ads, read customer reviews, and see what words are popular. It helps them handle a ton of info without needing more people.
Aggregator Bots:
These bots gather info from many places and give it to you. They might collect news from different websites and show it on your favorite news app.
Shopping Bots:
These bots help you shop online. They find stuff you want, compare prices, show you reviews, and even buy things for you. It saves you time and money.
Transaction Bots:
These bots do financial stuff for you like transferring money or paying for things. They make things faster and less likely to have mistakes.
Types of Malware Bots
The helpful things bots do are pretty cool but some people use them for bad stuff. They turn good bots into bad bots that hurt your computer and the internet. Here are the most common sneaky bots you should watch out for:
Spam Bots:
These bots create fake user accounts, snatch contact info, and spread spam everywhere. They send spam emails or post spam on websites and social media. They’re used to promote things or even spread harmful software.
Web Scraping Bots:
These bots download all the stuff from a website and put it somewhere else without permission. It’s like stealing someone’s work and can cause problems for the website.
Credential Stuffing Bots:
These bots take stolen passwords and check if they work on different services like Spotify or Facebook. If they find one that works, they can take over your account and even sell it.
DDoS Bots:
Hackers can turn lots of computers into “zombies” by infecting them with malware. These zombies work together to attack websites or servers. The more zombies they have, the more powerful the attack.
Inventory Hoarding Bots:
These bots buy up lots of an item as soon as it’s available usually to sell it at a higher price. They’re super fast so they can make a lot of money by selling things they’ve hoarded.
File-Sharing Bots:
Bad bots share files that shouldn’t be shared. They might have copyrighted stuff or viruses like Trojans and ransomware.
Vulnerability Scanners:
Hackers use these bots to find weak spots in computer networks. Once they find a weak spot, they try to get in and cause trouble like spreading malware or stealing data.
Click Fraud Bots:
These bots click on online ads to make money for the bad guys. It can hurt other businesses or mess up the way we understand how ads work online.
How to Keep Your Computer Safe from Bots
The most important thing to keep your computer safe from sneaky bots is to use easy but strong security tools and be careful online. Here are some important steps you can take to protect your computer from bots:
- Use Strong Passwords: Make sure your passwords are strong. A strong password has a mix of upper and lower-case letters, special characters, and numbers. Don’t use the same password for different accounts.
- Keep Your Software Updated: Don’t delay software updates. When you wait, your computer becomes more vulnerable because hackers can use weaknesses that were fixed in updates from a long time ago. These weaknesses can be used to infect your computer with harmful software.
- Avoid Suspicious Links and Ads: Be very careful when you see a link or attachment that looks weird or suspicious. Check if it’s a real and safe link before clicking. Just one accidental click on a bad link can let bots take over your computer and use it for bad things.
- Use a VPN: A VPN is like a secret online shield. It hides your computer’s identity and keeps your internet activity safe. Some good VPNs like NordVPN MOD APK also have extra safety features. For example, NordVPN’s Threat Protection helps you spot files that might have malware before you download them. It also stops you from going to bad websites and blocks annoying ads and trackers.
