Simulate Internet Explorer web traffic with PowerShell

• Last updated: Feb 7, 2019

I needed to simulate web traffic on a bunch of Windows stations. So I wrote a PowerShell script which randomly open Internet Explorer or download files from the internet.

Code

###########################
# author : shebangthedolphins.net
# version : 1.0
# date : 2019.02
# role : open internet explorer to generate random web traffic
# other :
# - Tested on a Windows 7 host
# updates :
#       - 1.0 : first version

#Variables definition
$url1 = "https://usconstitution.net/"
$url2 = "https://qwant.com"
$url3 = "https://ddg.gg"
$url4 = "http://dell.com"
$url5 = "http://msn.com"
$url6 = "http://www.yahoo.fr"
$url7 = "https://fr.news.yahoo.com/"
$url8 = "https://news.google.com/?tab=wn&hl=fr&gl=FR&ceid=FR:fr"

function Random-Number {
    Get-Random -Minimum $args[0] -Maximum $args[1];
}

function Ready {
    $count = 0
    while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4)  {
        Start-Sleep -m 200;
        Write-Host "I'm ready : $count" + $ie.ReadyState
        $count++;
        If ($count -eq 100) {
            Get-Process | ? { $_.ProcessName -eq 'iexplore' } | Stop-Process
            Get-Process | ? { $_.ProcessName -eq 'werfault' } | Stop-Process
            [System.GC]::Collect() #garbage collector source : https://dmitrysotnikov.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/freeing-up-memory-in-powershell-using-garbage-collector/
            return $false
            break
        }
    } return $true
}

function IE {
    $navOpenInBackgroundTab = 0x1000; #Open the resource or file in a new background tab; the currently active window and/or tab remains open on top.
    $ie = New-Object -COMObject internetexplorer.application;
    $ie.visible = $true;
    return $ie
}

$ie = IE

While($true)
{
    $result = Random-Number 2 10
    Write-Host "sleep pendant $result"
    #Start-Sleep $result

    $result = Random-Number 0 8

    If ($result -ne "0") {
        #Internet Explorer
        $SleepTime = Random-Number 2 5
        Write-Host "Internet Explorer, nous allons vers l'url : $result"
        
    switch ($result) {
       "1"  {
            $ie.navigate($url1); #main tab link
            #while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100};
            if(!(Ready $ie)) { $ie = IE } 
            break
            }
       "2"  {
            $ie.navigate($url2); #main tab link
            #$ie.navigate($url5,$navOpenInBackgroundTab); #secondary tab link
            #while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100}; 
            if(!(Ready $ie)) { $ie = IE }
            break
            }
       "3"   {
            $ie.navigate($url3); #main tab link
            #while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100};
            if(!(Ready $ie)) { $ie = IE }
            break
             }
       "4" {
            $ie.navigate($url4); #main tab link
            #while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100};
            if(!(Ready $ie)) { $ie = IE }
            break
            }
       "5" {
            $ie.navigate($url5); #main tab link
            #while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100};
            if(!(Ready $ie)) { $ie = IE }
            break
            }
       "6" {
            $ie.navigate($url6); #main tab link
            #while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100};
            if(!(Ready $ie)) { $ie = IE }
            break
            }
       "7" {
            $ie.navigate($url7); #main tab link
            #while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100};
            if(!(Ready $ie)) { $ie = IE }
            break
            }
       "8" {
            $ie.navigate($url8); #main tab link
            #while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100};
            if(!(Ready $ie)) { $ie = IE }
            break
            }
   default {        
            $ie.navigate($url1); #main tab link
            if(!(Ready $ie)) { $ie = IE }
            #$ie.navigate($url2,$navOpenInBackgroundTab); #secondary tab link
            #$ie.navigate($url3,$navOpenInBackgroundTab); #secondary tab link
            #while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100}; 
            break
            }
    }


        Write-Host "sleep during $SleepTime"
        Start-Sleep $SleepTime
    } else {
        $random = Random-Number 1 8

       switch ($random) {
       "1"  {
            Write-Host "URL1"
            $dlurl = "http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2019/07/9d387429-8bc8-4c74-9e64-4f390135fea5_5863649b17baf6de00a43a85c0c715d6b4bf1090.cab"
            } 
       "2"  {
            Write-Host "URL2"
            $dlurl = "http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2019/01/10852c22-972e-4510-9bae-ea19af8e7add_086d1ad6b807fc36ef1aea175b3bd84812d1f113.cab"
            }
       "3" {
            Write-Host "URL3"
                $dlurl = "http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/updt/2019/07/ie11-windows6.2-kb4510979-x64_6adb75d2398fa62a89173ece5573a454a494a911.msu"
            } 
       "4" {
            Write-Host "URL4"
                $dlurl = "https://download.winzip.com/gl/nkln/winzip23-home.exe" 
            } 
       "5" {
            Write-Host "URL5"
            $dlurl = "https://www.rarlab.com/rar/winrar-x64-571ar.exe"
            } 
       "6" {
            Write-Host "URL6"
            $dlurl = "https://download.ccleaner.com/cctrialsetup.exe"
            }
       "7" {
            Write-Host "URL7"
            $durl = "https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/server-poweredge-m1000e-tech-guidebook.pdf"
            }
       default { 
            Write-Host "Default"
            $dlurl = "https://usconstitution.net/const.pdf"
            }
        }
        $dst = "C:\Windows\Temp\TEST"
        Write-Host "Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $dlurl -OutFile $dst"
        Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "$dlurl" -OutFile "$dst"
        Remove-Item "$dst"
        Start-Sleep 4
    }
}