This ain't your daddy's internet:
Types of Malicious Bots:
Bots drove nearly 40% of internet traffic last year — and the naughty ones are getting smarterSpam Bots: This type of bot spiders the Internet for the purpose of collecting data from forms that have been filled out online, spreading advertisements and pop-ups throughout the Internet, and collecting email addresses for the purpose of spamming.
Hacker Bots: Hackers use this type of bot to crawl around the Internet and find vulnerabilities in websites and online applications so they can exploit them for malicious purposes.
Botnets: Botnets are networks that hackers set up online by using "zombie" computers to perform malicious acts such as denial of service attacks. Zombie computers are computers that have been taken over by the hacker without the knowledge of the PC owner....
Sock puppet account: The use of the term has expanded to now include other misleading uses of online identities, such as those created to praise, defend, or support a person or organization, to manipulate public opinionThis is a admittedly a startling number, but it actually represents a welcome decrease on last year’s figures.
The threat is real and my thanks to the mods for all their efforts in handling this new world we are in.Strawman sockpuppet
A strawman sockpuppet (sometimes abbreviated as strawpuppet) is a false flag pseudonym created to make a particular point of view look foolish or unwholesome in order to generate negative sentiment against it. Strawman sockpuppets typically behave in an unintelligent, uninformed, or bigoted manner and advance "straw man" arguments that their puppeteers can easily refute. The intended effect is to discredit more rational arguments made for the same position.[12] Such sockpuppets behave in a similar manner to Internet trolls.
A particular case is the concern troll, a false flag pseudonym created by a user whose actual point of view is opposed to the one that the sockpuppet claims to hold. The concern troll posts in Web forums devoted to its declared point of view and attempts to sway the group's actions or opinions while claiming to share their goals, but with professed "concerns". The goal is to sow fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) within the group.
Meatpuppet
Some online sources use the term "meatpuppet" to describe sockpuppet behaviors. For example, according to one online encyclopedia, a meat puppet "publishes comments on blogs, wikis and other public venues about some phenomenon or product in order to generate public interest and buzz"—that is, he/she is engaged in behavior more widely known as "astroturfing"
