A
botnet is a number of
Internet-connected computers communicating with other similar machines in an effort to complete repetitive tasks and objectives. This can be as mundane as keeping control of an
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel, or it could be used to send
spam email or participate in
distributed denial-of-service attacks. The word botnet is a combination of the words
robot and
network. The term is usually used with a negative or malicious connotation.