Well, hello there! I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Bonzi.

For some folks, the above may trigger memories of an animated purple gorilla that told the occasional joke and helped them surf the web. For others, those words may be a reminder of what felt like the beginning of the end for their computer.

In the early 2000s, spyware—malicious software, also referred to as adware, that collects information about a person without their consent—was as pervasive as velour tracksuits, scandalous tabloid magazines, and low-rise jeans.

“It was normal for almost everyone that was going to the internet to be at some point infected or annoyed by these things,” said Luis Corrons, a security evangelist at Gen.

BonziBuddy was arguably a poster child for early spyware programs. The intelligent software agent, which was free to download, masqueraded as an innocent tool that could assist users with basic tasks such as calendar reminders. However, the software would soon cause issues for users, like Malwarebytes co-founder and CEO Marcin Kleczynski, who downloaded the cartoon personal assistant for fun. Then it overstayed its welcome.

How annoying could it get?—BM

Houston, we have a bot problem…

Web traffic to some webpages has started to resemble a Los Angeles freeway as AI bots, also known as crawlers, increasingly overload servers with requests. An April Imperva report found that automated traffic, including both “good” and “bad” bots, made up 51% of all web traffic last year. While this marks the first time bot traffic has surpassed human activity, WP Engine VP of Product Management Christine McKee told IT Brew that the influx of automated traffic feels familiar.

“I would say that it’s similar to when spam came into the world and email, where all of a sudden people started getting more and more emails, and it was slowing down the whole system,” she said.

For WP Engine, a hosting platform that hosts over 1.5 million WordPress websites across more than 150 countries, defending websites in its network against the unintended effects of high bot traffic is a top priority, according to McKee. McKee told IT Brew that the platform has seen a “definite rise” in the traffic experienced by its supported websites.

Read more on the battle of the bots.—BM

Listen up—let’s have a conversation.

That’s what IT and OT divisions should be saying to one another, but all too often wires get crossed. And that presents opportunities for attackers, Dragos SVP of Intelligence and Services Kurt Gaudette told IT Brew at last month’s RSAC.

“Hey, we’ve got to get this done together,” Gaudette said. “Let’s build security for IT and OT.”

Closed off. Most departments would reach out to IT for help. But OT has traditionally been stubborn and resistant to an open door between the two—an attitude that Gaudette said is unfortunately shared by their counterparts. And with OT, often the way that attack is manifesting itself just looks like an error that they can manually change. That’s a management problem, and one that has some major hurdles to get past.

How to bridge the gap.—EH

From Y2K (2000) to cloud computing (2006) and the rise of streaming (2007), IT has transformed the world. This 25-year project dives into pivotal moments like the Slammer virus (2003) and AWS’s launch, shaping today’s digital landscape. Discover the past to navigate the future of tech.