: a network of computers that have been linked together by malware : a network of bots (see bot entry 1 sense 2b)
Criminals link hijacked personal computers together to form "botnets"—clusters of infected PCs that spammers can control from anywhere in the world.—
Dave Mosher
Dave MosherExamples of botnet in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Now an indictment of a group of Russian nationals and the takedown of their sprawling botnet offers the clearest example in years of how a single malware operation allegedly enabled hacking operations as varied as ransomware, wartime cyberattacks in Ukraine, and spying against foreign governments.
—Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 22 May 2025
There have been a lot of other alarming high-profile IoT botnet attacks recently.
—Chuck Brooks, Forbes.com, 18 May 2025
These botnets consist of computers and other devices, like IoT devices, that have been infected with malware, allowing an attacker to control them remotely.
—Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 10 Mar. 2025
In the case of Matrix, the DDoS campaign has combined a whole bunch of things to create a formidable botnet: public scripts, brute-force attacks as well as weak credentials exploitation.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for botnet
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 22 May 2025
There have been a lot of other alarming high-profile IoT botnet attacks recently.
—Chuck Brooks, Forbes.com, 18 May 2025
These botnets consist of computers and other devices, like IoT devices, that have been infected with malware, allowing an attacker to control them remotely.
—Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 10 Mar. 2025
In the case of Matrix, the DDoS campaign has combined a whole bunch of things to create a formidable botnet: public scripts, brute-force attacks as well as weak credentials exploitation.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for botnet
Cite this Entry
“Botnet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/botnet. Accessed 29 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share