Bots and botnets (short for robot): Bots are a system with malware controlled by a botnet. The
system is compromised by an attack or the user installing a Remote Access Trojan (game or
application with a hidden payload). They often use IRC, HTTP or HTTPS. Some are dormant until
activated. Others are actively sending data from the system (Credit card/bank information for
instance). Active bots can also can be used to send spam emails. Botnets is a C&C (Command and
Control) network, controlled by people (bot-herders). There can often be 1,000’s or even 100,000’s
of bots in a botnet.