THE KINGDOM OF THE BOTS

 Computer bots were created for two purposes to do good or to commit criminal acts.

Yes what you are reading... Given my extensive experience in the cyber world which, of course, I am not dedicated to the topic of cybersecurity but I am simply a user, bots have been rampant lately and not only by GETTR but also by other networks Social like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc...

What I am here to comment on is that bots can do a lot of damage since they don't leave a trace of the user who created that bot, but they can also be used to control installations without the "human hand" intervening to avoid possible accidents. or to help users on any web page.

MORE THAN CAUSING BENEFIT, IT CAN CAUSE ENOUGH PROBLEMS

So that those who don't understand what a "bot" means, I will explain it in the simplest way possible with a real example:

In the automotive world there are robots that are machines programmed to assemble cars, but if we program these robots to kill people, they can do a lot of damage.

Robots are always programmed by people, but the advantage robots have over bots is that they can be reprogrammed to perform other tasks. The bots don't because there is no physical trail unlike what happens with the robots.

Bots are largely replacing conventional thieves who go anywhere to steal or rob a store or bank as small hits leave little benefit over a bot that can be programmed to steal on a grand scale several banks at the same time in different parts of the world without anyone being able to control them since, once they commit the criminal act, they "self-destruct" leaving no trace of the hacker's IP with which the current mafias have to, somehow , update or disappear because its flagship business is gradually being replaced by new technologies since anyone, and it is not necessary to have extensive experience, can program it to commit criminal acts or cause serious problems in current infrastructures.

You can buy a "bot farm" prepared and programmed to perform any type of task starting at $2,000 (about €1,900 approx) but keep in mind that the bots are created through a physical person and not through a computer program and that, in the event that you are involved in any criminal act, they will go after the one who bought it and not the creator of said bots. It is a fairly lucrative business that does not require any physical infrastructure or pay taxes.

Many people are asking for physical money to "disappear", for environmental issues and for convenience, but keep in mind that bots act fast and there is currently no financial backing or guarantees to replace the savings of a person or company or government just like what is happening with bitcoins. Second, it generates a lot of controversy since it would give governments freedom to control the banking movement of people to be persecuted by the Treasury.

There are also applications, created by third parties and free of charge, to create large-scale bots in our accounts with the purpose of obtaining a greater number of users to obtain benefits such as the verification symbol. I have already seen this in GETTR where, many and in less than a short time, they obtain the verification symbol when old users, like me, find it very difficult to meet the verification requirements and it is frustrating because GETTR doesn't stop delete not only fake accounts but also real accounts and many users are pissed that others mistakenly report such accounts thinking they are fake accounts.

In the case of GETTR, the problem is that users have to deal with the constant creation of bots since, even if we report and block them, at the same time they reappear with the same photo but a different nickname since the professional hacker leaves it programmed so that it is so with the purpose of "saturating" the servers of the social network and the patience of real users.

This constant bombardment exhausts any user since we are not here to be "hunting" but to share information and entertain ourselves.

That is why large companies and governments needs to regulate the use of these bots to prevent not only information, but also sensitive infrastructure and the economy from falling into the wrong hands by creating a security infrastructure that detects them instantly and locates them on the spot. criminal to bring him to justice.

That is why I continue to suggest to GETTR that it ask for the identification of the user either with their ID (or DNI) from their country or passport, verifying the accounts and tracking and controlling the bots, even so at the risk that said hackers begin to create false IDs that, in In this case, the ID should be linked with the police registration, but users are not convinced by the idea that their ID goes to a base to be tracked by the police, but it would give a guarantee to the social network that the risk would be minimal. In addition, by the Data Protection Law, no police authority could request the user's ID unless there is an express court order for the resolution of any criminal act.

There are cybersecurity companies that are responsible for minimizing the bombardment of bots on page servers and social networks, but there is still no one that protects the user's own information since, unconsciously, we could even lose access to our bank account. That is why I recommend that you spend your money well on a good antivirus like McAffee, since its extensive experience in cybersecurity guarantees us the security that our data is safe, but it does not mean that we have to lower our guard.

On the contrary, a normal hacker goes to a target just like a thief would and, therefore, it is easier to detect and locate it, but not a bot since it can go to several targets without being detected.

A hacker can "hijack" an account and ask for an amount. A bot does not (at the moment I am not aware that it can).

So... At user level... What can we do in any social network?

Following my steps:

• Make sure that account is at least one year old
• That the posts, tweets, photos or any content within the account is real and is not RTs or sharing SPAM
• That the users you follow are real accounts and not bots
• Get informed through the hashtags #bot or #bots to block and report fake accounts.
• Do not follow abandoned accounts

This way we can ensure that this "account" is not the account of a bot that could enter to steal any kind of information.