So I am trying to work out what kind of shenanigans I can potentially pull off with a large botnet full of chatbots. Good ones, like rating 3 with empathy software all logging into social media and basically weaponizing it to make stuff popular/unpopular.

My first thought is to combine it with trojans. Create some AR game or something and then have my bot army swarm in praising it and making it the next hot thing, all the while having it loaded out the ass with high end malware.

Obviously another option is using it when interacting with people online. it's gotta be disheartening when literally thousands or tens of thousands of people pile on to every comment you make to say how horrible you are. The inverse is also true, and a target could probably be lulled into overconfidence by having praisebots constantly telling him how awesome he is.

It's possible that it could even be used to convince people to do really dumb things for likes, too.

Does anyone else have any ideas on how I can abuse a massive botnet on future social media?

Rig an election.

Granted, local level only - the big boys have more bot than you.

I have considered that. given the very "direct democracy" thing where everyone on the matrix can poll policies, I can probably puppeteer some politicians.

I think it makes a good threat though: "Do what I want or I will destroy your life" has a certain ring to it.

Mass Dot Special*

Use the bots to convince a mark of a fake emergency by having multiple "people" message/call them and report something.
Example: Call the private security contractor guarding your target building that there is in fact a burning car in their parking lot/a bunch of devil rats inside the fence/a terrorist on the loose. Use the distraction to enter from another side/set up an ambush.

Can also be used to fake-call an amulance/the rent-a-cops/fire fighters. The ambulance carries all kinds of stuff for helping your own team, the rent-a-cops will put a nasty dent into the enemy gang, fire fighters get in pretty much anywhere.

The tactic is quite easy: One concerned citizen calling/messaging? Can be ignored. Five? A lot more believable.
Can be reinforced by using the bots for messaging and having the hacker and face actually call in.


*"Leverage" Reference. They got the National Weather Service to announce a tornado warning. I learned a lot from that series

Leverage and Burn Notice are shows I consider "must watch" for people wanting to be Shadowrunners.

I've actually decided that one use I am going to have is to create a bunch of social media accounts with regular (artificially inflated by my other bot accounts) engagement. Then, whenever my teams need a cover identity which can withstand a bit of research I just assign them one or more of these pre-made social media accounts so their one-shot identity still has months or even years of social activity a researcher can track back. A bit safer than hacking someone's account, frankly.

Being able to control a noticeable amount of matrix traffic is also helpful for other cover identity purposes, of course. Need cover as some kind of cult celebrity? the ability to generate a large number of subscribers to your streaming channel instantly helps add credibility to your claims. Pretending that our media marketing account can drive traffic to your site? After your first ad from us, massive consistent traffic. We should have a face to face meeting to discuss how we can help you grow.

ect.

Also a botnet makes sure you have loyal friends who'll never sell you out or betray you or break your heart. They're never too busy to listen to your problems and offer condolences. They won't turn their back on you in your darkest moments.


I'm not crazy, YOU'RE CRAZY!

reminds me of this
"Artist creates traffic jams in Google Maps with a wagon full of phones"

https://www.engadget.com/2020-02-03-google-...TluMR257B_RFTJt