What is a bot?
Simply put, a bot is an application configured to perform tasks with zero human intervention. They are typically used for tasks that are repetitive in nature—or those with predictable inputs and outputs—and can do said tasks significantly faster and with fewer errors than a human could without needing to rest.
If you wish to learn more about bots, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: What can I do with a bot?
You can have your bot do virtually anything you want it to do as long as you know all the relevant inputs and outputs.
An example would be web crawlers. These bots are in charge of visiting web pages, understanding what it is about, and providing search engines such as Google the information it needs to provide you with relevant search results every time you perform an online search. They are so prevalent that they make up more than half of all internet traffic at any given time.
Another example that you have probably already encountered at least once in your life are chatbots. Unlike web crawlers that do their work in the background, chatbots are designed to interact directly with users. In most cases, they function like a more interactive FAQ page, answering user questions in real time using predetermined keyword triggers and pre-crafted responses.
But that is not all chatbots can do. You can also configure them to do things such as:
- Conduct surveys
- Perform basic troubleshooting
- Host chat-based games and events
- Pre-qualify leads
Question #2: How does a bot work?
A bot is essentially just a piece of automation software designed to perform whatever tasks it is programmed to do. That is practically all there is to it.
Despite the simplicity of the concept, however, a bot can be made to perform complex tasks, as we have seen in the previous section. In fact, some people even use bots to automate their stock market and Forex trades. That is how reliable a properly programmed bot can be.
But not all bots are good—which brings us to the next section:
Question #3: What is a malicious bot?
As the name suggests, a malicious bot is one that is designed to perform malicious tasks. Examples would be:
- Stealing information
- Duplicating content
- Performing distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks
- Sending spam
- Pad website visits, social engagement, or video views
Let us take a look at each one in more detail:
First, bots can be designed to automatically steal your information either by scraping the web or infecting your machine, making it easier for malicious parties to get into your accounts or even assume your identity.
Second, bots can be configured to automatically duplicate the content of a website in another website.
Third, bots can be used to perform DDoS attacks by overloading a server with automated visits, queries, and/or requests, preventing legitimate users from using it.
Fourth, bots can be programmed to send out spam via a variety of channels, including email, SMS, and chat.
Finally, bots can also be configured to pose as human users and pad website visits, social engagement, or video views. Bots like these can easily perform tasks such as commenting, sharing, following, subscribing, liking, and even watching specific videos long enough for the view to count.
Question #4: How can I protect myself from malicious bots?
There are many ways to protect yourself from malicious bots.
Against crawlers designed to scrape the internet for information, for example, your best defense is to refrain from posting confidential information about yourself online. After all, if it is not there to scrape, not even the best bots will be able to find it.
For other types of malicious bots, on the other hand, you may need to use tools specifically designed to combat them.