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Spambots are an inevitable feature of our digital lives. They are everywhere: in email inboxes, social networks, video hosting sites and other media channels. But what kind of bots are they? What do they want from us? And why should we care?
Contents
1. Spambots are…
1.1 Spambots and Twitter
1.2. Spam and VK, Odnoklassniki, Facebook
1.3. The YouTube Comments Problem
1.4. What is the purpose of spambots?
1.5. On legality
2. What spambots can do
2.1 Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
2.2. Distribution of viruses and malware
2.3. "Black" SEO
2.4. Fake accounts and leads
2.5. Domain hijacking
2.6. Advertising fraud
3. Damage from spambots
4. How to recognize a bot
5. How to fight spambots
5.1. Multi-stage account verification
5.2. Plugins on the site
5.3. CAPTCHA
5.4. Bot blocking services
This is the most common type of bots, and of course, the most annoying. Almost every Internet user's "Spam" folder is simply teeming with their "works".
They focus mainly on human greed or pity - they will say that you have won a big prize, your uncle from Limpopo left you a multi-million dollar inheritance, you have received an additional payment from the state and personally from the president, your friend needs 1000 rubles "right-now-on-this-strange-number-then-I'll-explain-everything-later", etc. In general, they are in plain sight for everyone.
However, it is worth remembering that they are not so harmless. A spam bot poses a real threat to our digital assets, which include servers, applications, online data, accounts, etc. Fraudsters use these bots for many purposes, and none of them bode well.
When there are a lot of comments, users may accidentally click on a spam link while trying to expand another thread. Some sources indicate that YouTube is taking steps to address this issue.
For example, if this is the creation, use and distribution of malware, then these acts fall under Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
An administrative fine is provided for sending spam (Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On Advertising" (Article 18, paragraph 1)). For organizations, it can reach 500,000 rubles.
Other acts may be related to civil law.
A surge of invalid traffic causes problems at the server level, meaning the site will simply crash and real users won't be able to access it. It will be overloaded trying to handle the wave of requests from bots.
This process is called a denial of service (DoS) attack. Bot operators are able to scale attacks using multiple IP addresses and devices. In this case, the attacks are called distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. They are much more difficult to block.
Fraudsters can use vulnerabilities to introduce malicious code that will provide unauthorized access to the user's device. A botnet operator can use malware hidden from the eyes of the owner of a PC, smartphone or other equipment with Internet access to control this device, run tasks in the background. For example, they can be used to perform click fraud.
Or the links may be phishing and lead to a clone site of some famous brand, online store, marketplace, bank, etc. An inattentive user who does not know that you cannot follow incomprehensible links from unknown people may pay with their finances and open access to their accounts and personal data to intruders.
This approach is not welcomed now. The site's link profile should be as natural and relevant as possible. Therefore, the best way to harm a competitor in search results is to set a flock of spambots on him, which will massively post the lowest quality and most irrelevant links to his site.
If the site is promoted by irrelevant queries in the search, then users, going to it by the query of interest to them from the search results, will immediately leave. This, in turn, will increase the bounce rate. Hence, the deterioration of behavioral factors.
Such incoming links will give nothing but dissatisfied site visitors, increasing the bounce rate. Corrupted metrics, deterioration of the site's position in the search results, filters from search engines, loss of rating - and all this because of the attack of spam bots.
They are also used for mass registration of fake accounts on social networks. Such profiles can be used for further fraud. For example, to leave negative reviews or attack online stores by adding products to the cart without further placing an order.
With access to your email database, spambots can cause unimaginable damage to your reputation by sending phishing attacks, malware, and spam through both internal and external communication channels. Your customers will never open another email from you again.
Unscrupulous bloggers use bots to artificially boost their metrics and further monetize their channel, page, group. Advertisers see only the picture that the scammer shows them. If they do not go further and check the comments, subscribers, and quality of the "businessman's" content for naturalness, they can simply waste their advertising budget.
Spambots are also used by partners who collaborate under an affiliate marketing program.
Every day, real users send each other about 22.4 billion emails. The amount is simply unimaginable. Let's imagine that each email is a quarter. If you stack them, the height of our construction will be more than 40,233.6 km - more than the circumference of the Earth at the equator.
However, compared to the amount of spam emails, this is practically nothing. Of all the emails, only 15% belong to real users. The remaining 85% are pure spam.
That's over 122 billion spam emails every day. Even without taking into account scams, phishing, and malware, the amount of hours spent just processing all that spam is insane.
Back in 2012, spam emails were estimated to impact businesses worldwide by $20.5 billion a year. Over the years, the volume of emails sent has steadily increased, so it’s safe to say that the financial cost to the global economy has also increased significantly over that time.
Even if the first such message you read seems genuine, from a real user, then in the process of further communication, doubts will disappear, from the conversation you will immediately understand that you are communicating with a bot. It is unlikely that scammers use some kind of complex artificial intelligence to analyze the text of messages and process dialogues.
Protection from bots is necessary for both advertisers and website owners. It is an important element of cybersecurity, which is indispensable in the modern digital world.
Contents
1. Spambots are…
1.1 Spambots and Twitter
1.2. Spam and VK, Odnoklassniki, Facebook
1.3. The YouTube Comments Problem
1.4. What is the purpose of spambots?
1.5. On legality
2. What spambots can do
2.1 Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
2.2. Distribution of viruses and malware
2.3. "Black" SEO
2.4. Fake accounts and leads
2.5. Domain hijacking
2.6. Advertising fraud
3. Damage from spambots
4. How to recognize a bot
5. How to fight spambots
5.1. Multi-stage account verification
5.2. Plugins on the site
5.3. CAPTCHA
5.4. Bot blocking services
Spambots are…
A spambot is a piece of software code designed to automatically perform pre-set attacks. Its purpose is to deliver spam, that is, unwanted, pre-programmed messages or responses.This is the most common type of bots, and of course, the most annoying. Almost every Internet user's "Spam" folder is simply teeming with their "works".
They focus mainly on human greed or pity - they will say that you have won a big prize, your uncle from Limpopo left you a multi-million dollar inheritance, you have received an additional payment from the state and personally from the president, your friend needs 1000 rubles "right-now-on-this-strange-number-then-I'll-explain-everything-later", etc. In general, they are in plain sight for everyone.
However, it is worth remembering that they are not so harmless. A spam bot poses a real threat to our digital assets, which include servers, applications, online data, accounts, etc. Fraudsters use these bots for many purposes, and none of them bode well.
Spambots and Twitter
Spam bots are used to influence Twitter algorithms: boosting likes, retweets, subscriptions. They are used to boost the popularity of accounts. Bots are also used to automatically post comments, troll, and distribute certain information en masse in order to destabilize society.Spam and VK, Odnoklassniki, Facebook
Similar to Twitter. VK, like OK and Facebook, are the same social networks that cannot avoid bot attacks on its users. There are many programs for automated spam sending via personal messages, groups and comments. They are used to promote accounts and sites.The Problem with YouTube Comments
Comments under YouTube videos are a favorite target of spambots. They are notorious for distributing links to adult content, MLM pyramids, gambling, etc. They are often used to lure inattentive and curious users to sites infected with malware.When there are a lot of comments, users may accidentally click on a spam link while trying to expand another thread. Some sources indicate that YouTube is taking steps to address this issue.
What is the purpose of spambots?
Spambots are used to achieve various goals. The most basic ones are: sending advertising and marketing messages (36%), distributing adult content (31.7%), financial services and information (26.5%).About legality
Is it legal to use bots to send spam? Bots themselves are certainly not illegal, but their owners, i.e. botnet operators, may well be subject to criminal, administrative or civil prosecution. It all depends on the type of fraud.For example, if this is the creation, use and distribution of malware, then these acts fall under Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
An administrative fine is provided for sending spam (Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On Advertising" (Article 18, paragraph 1)). For organizations, it can reach 500,000 rubles.
Other acts may be related to civil law.
What can spambots do?
Spammer bots can perform DoS attacks, distribute viruses and malware, participate in “black” SEO, register fake accounts and leads, hijack domains, and engage in click fraud.Denial of Service (DoS) attacks
Spam bots are a great tool for slowing down a website or even taking it down. As a rule, the simplest and cheapest bots to create are used for DDoS attacks. That is why they are created in large quantities to "take down" a website.A surge of invalid traffic causes problems at the server level, meaning the site will simply crash and real users won't be able to access it. It will be overloaded trying to handle the wave of requests from bots.
This process is called a denial of service (DoS) attack. Bot operators are able to scale attacks using multiple IP addresses and devices. In this case, the attacks are called distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. They are much more difficult to block.
Spread of viruses and malware
Spreading worms, viruses and various types of malware is the most popular way of using spam bots. And the most problematic. The messages spread by bots may contain malicious links that threaten the security of the user's device.Fraudsters can use vulnerabilities to introduce malicious code that will provide unauthorized access to the user's device. A botnet operator can use malware hidden from the eyes of the owner of a PC, smartphone or other equipment with Internet access to control this device, run tasks in the background. For example, they can be used to perform click fraud.
Or the links may be phishing and lead to a clone site of some famous brand, online store, marketplace, bank, etc. An inattentive user who does not know that you cannot follow incomprehensible links from unknown people may pay with their finances and open access to their accounts and personal data to intruders.
"Black" SEO
Search engines really don't like link blasting - the practice of mass-placing incoming links to a site to improve rankings and positions. The days when it could produce positive results are long gone.This approach is not welcomed now. The site's link profile should be as natural and relevant as possible. Therefore, the best way to harm a competitor in search results is to set a flock of spambots on him, which will massively post the lowest quality and most irrelevant links to his site.
If the site is promoted by irrelevant queries in the search, then users, going to it by the query of interest to them from the search results, will immediately leave. This, in turn, will increase the bounce rate. Hence, the deterioration of behavioral factors.
Such incoming links will give nothing but dissatisfied site visitors, increasing the bounce rate. Corrupted metrics, deterioration of the site's position in the search results, filters from search engines, loss of rating - and all this because of the attack of spam bots.
Fake accounts and leads
Most marketers are familiar with the unpleasant realization that the conversion rate reflected in Yandex.Metrica or Google Analytics is tainted by a fair share of fake leads. Bots are often used to fill out forms on websites and send invalid data.They are also used for mass registration of fake accounts on social networks. Such profiles can be used for further fraud. For example, to leave negative reviews or attack online stores by adding products to the cart without further placing an order.
Domain hijacking
Above, we looked at the damage that spambots can cause from the outside. But what happens if they get their spam hands on your credentials? A compromised corporate site infected with bots is the worst-case scenario that can unfold.With access to your email database, spambots can cause unimaginable damage to your reputation by sending phishing attacks, malware, and spam through both internal and external communication channels. Your customers will never open another email from you again.
Advertising fraud
Spam bots consider social networks to be their main "workplace". They feel at ease there. Advertisers who place targeted ads do not even suspect what awaits them.Unscrupulous bloggers use bots to artificially boost their metrics and further monetize their channel, page, group. Advertisers see only the picture that the scammer shows them. If they do not go further and check the comments, subscribers, and quality of the "businessman's" content for naturalness, they can simply waste their advertising budget.
Spambots are also used by partners who collaborate under an affiliate marketing program.
Damage from spambots
How much spam has already "dropped" into your inbox today? What software does your company use to filter unwanted emails? Do you know how much effort, money and time such large mail services as Yandex, Google, Mail.ru and others invest in developing methods to eliminate or reduce the amount of spam?Every day, real users send each other about 22.4 billion emails. The amount is simply unimaginable. Let's imagine that each email is a quarter. If you stack them, the height of our construction will be more than 40,233.6 km - more than the circumference of the Earth at the equator.
However, compared to the amount of spam emails, this is practically nothing. Of all the emails, only 15% belong to real users. The remaining 85% are pure spam.
That's over 122 billion spam emails every day. Even without taking into account scams, phishing, and malware, the amount of hours spent just processing all that spam is insane.
Back in 2012, spam emails were estimated to impact businesses worldwide by $20.5 billion a year. Over the years, the volume of emails sent has steadily increased, so it’s safe to say that the financial cost to the global economy has also increased significantly over that time.
How to recognize a bot
Spambots are easy to spot - they send pre-programmed, irrelevant messages to as many users or sites as possible. They often contain typos and grammatical errors.Even if the first such message you read seems genuine, from a real user, then in the process of further communication, doubts will disappear, from the conversation you will immediately understand that you are communicating with a bot. It is unlikely that scammers use some kind of complex artificial intelligence to analyze the text of messages and process dialogues.
How to fight spambots
Among the measures taken to combat spam bots, the following may be effective: multi-stage account verification (for example, two-factor authentication), website plugins, CAPTCHA (although we have previously written about how bots have learned to bypass it), tools and services for blocking bots.Multi-stage account verification
If the corporate website provides for registration of a client account, then the most optimal option for protection against spam bots may be multi-stage verification. For example, sending a code to another device, such as a smartphone, during registration. In addition to blocking bots, such a measure will also let potential clients and customers know that their data will be protected.Plugins on the site
If your site is hosted on the WordPress CMS, then Akismet or some FireWall from CleanTalk will block most of the most common spam bots that will try to attack the site. Some CMS developers even offer built-in tools for standardized spam protection.CAPTCHA
Although CAPTCHA is not a panacea in terms of functionality, it is still used as one of the measures to protect against spambots.Bot blocking services
A dedicated anti-bot solution allows you to block the widest possible range of malicious automated activity and inappropriate traffic. A dedicated protection system can provide more sophisticated transition filtering processes that allow you to analyze traffic and adapt your protection tools.Protection from bots is necessary for both advertisers and website owners. It is an important element of cybersecurity, which is indispensable in the modern digital world.
