what is a botnet - A person typing on a computer, with different dots connected to it representing a botnet. The Your Password Sucks logo for the web_crawlr newsletter is in the upper right corner.

Y0ur P@ssw0rd S*cks: What is a botnet?

Should you be worried about botnets and how can you protect against them?

On Aug 15, 2023 by Mikael Thalen

Former President Donald Trump speaking at a podium.

Sprawling bot network is trying to shame DeSantis into being Trump’s running mate

The bot network also attacked Nikki Haley.

On Mar 6, 2023 by Claire Goforth

Elon Musk speaking with hands out with shopping cart containing phone with Twitter logos on screen in front of black background

Twitter users speculate that Elon Musk is inflating view counts to ‘trick advertisers’

'Since I have no followers and the account is locked, that tweet should not be visible to anyone. It has 12 views.'

On Dec 27, 2022 by Jacob Seitz

Elon musk speaking on dark to light blue background with Twitter logo to left

‘I’m tired of his lies’: Twitter user debunks Elon Musk’s bot removal claims with 2 simple words

'I'm tired of his lies,' she said.

On Dec 13, 2022 by Jacob Seitz

A pair of concert tickets.

Ticket bots ruined live events before the pandemic—will the BOTS Act make a difference?

More ticketed events are happening—and bots seem to be coming with them.

On Aug 5, 2021 by Jules Schulman

The Twitter logo with a robot emoji

Twitter verified a number of bot accounts—raising questions about security (updated)

Six users with fake profile pics were seemingly verified less than one month after being created.

On Jul 12, 2021 by Mikael Thalen

Twitter Fake Accounts Black Trump Voters

Twitter suspends fake accounts posing as Black supporters of Trump

Some of the accounts had amassed a substantial following.

On Oct 14, 2020 by Andrew Wyrich

Ivanka Trump birthday message'

Ivanka Trump couldn’t be bothered to tag the right Tiffany Trump in her birthday post

She appeared to tag a bot account instead.

On Oct 13, 2020 by Onaje McDowelle

The Rock next to a tweet

Is a Russian bot campaign targeting the Rock for endorsing Biden?

No. But a simple internet joke seems to have sent Twitter into a frenzy.

On Sep 28, 2020 by Mikael Thalen

The Botnet social network simulator makes you famous among millions of bots

Be an influencer on this app, where a million bots are designed to hype you up

Become famous, loved, and loathed on a virtual social media plaform.

On Feb 12, 2020 by Mikael Thalen

twitter bot birds

Who’s afraid of a Twitter bot?

Bots are everywhere.

On Feb 10, 2020 by Whitney Kimball

Homepage article image

Does ‘Rise of Skywalker’ have the same political troll problem as ‘The Last Jedi’?

The question arises after a study found bots and political trolls largely fueled the ‘Last Jedi’ backlash.

On Dec 26, 2019 by Mikael Thalen

Homepage article image

Facebook just purged a massive network of fake pro-Trump accounts

Many of the fake accounts used AI-generated faces for their profile pictures.

On Dec 20, 2019 by Mikael Thalen

russian-instagram-trolls-joe-biden

Russian bots targeting Joe Biden on Instagram

Facebook removed dozens of accounts intent on undermining the Biden campaign.

On Oct 21, 2019 by Brooke Sjoberg

congress-vaping-bots

Congress investigating whether vaping manufacturers used social media bots

Bots are responsible for the majority of e-cig marketing messages, but it's unclear if it's at the behest of manufacturers. 

On Oct 14, 2019 by Eilish O'Sullivan