A large part of the online world is now ruled by an invisible technology rather than by visible humans. That technology is called a “bot”. Simply put, a bot is a type of software or computer program that can automatically carry out specific tasks without human instruction. Built to imitate human behaviour, these programs perform repetitive jobs far quicker and more accurately than people.

The surprising fact is that more than half of all internet traffic today is controlled by various kinds of bots. Tasks such as gathering information from websites, interacting with web pages and answering users’ questions in customer service are handled by bots every day. Every bot has its own IP (Internet Protocol) address, which makes it possible to identify these programs across the internet.

However, the role of bots on the internet is like two sides of the same coin — their impact can be both positive and harmful. Useful bots keep the internet’s vast information organised and help people find things easily through search engines. At the same time, chatbots run by service organisations offer instant answers to customers’ questions around the clock.

On the other side, cybercriminals use bots for malicious purposes. They break into people’s accounts without permission, steal e-mail addresses and contact numbers to send spam, and scan for potential targets of cyberattacks.

Source: Cloudflare.