Term: zombie

Zombie refers to a computer that has been infected with malware that attempts to run without detection to perform tasks for someone else. The most common examples are computers infected with malware that causes them to send spam on behalf of a spammer.

The malware run by zombies typically tries to run without being noticed, so that it can continue to do whatever it’s been instructed to do for as long as possible before it is detected and removed.

Zombies are often run at the direction of some form of “master control” computer elsewhere on the internet with whom they communicate. Such a zombie is also referred to as a bot.

Large numbers of bots under the control of a single master control or “bot herder” are referred to as a botnet.