Modern Bot Attacks: What You Need to Know to Safeguard Your Business

Explore the rise of bot attacks and effective strategies for detection and prevention


In today's digital landscape, bot attacks have become an escalating threat to businesses across industries. These automated malicious actors target user accounts, steal data, and disrupt operations, costing companies billions yearly. Here's a look into the dangers of bot activity and how IPQS is revolutionizing bot detection and mitigation.

 

Understanding the Bot Epidemic


Bots have evolved far beyond their basic counterparts. Advanced malicious bots now mimic human behavior with alarming accuracy, making them harder to detect. Over the past year, IPQS has recorded a 51% surge in bot activity, demonstrating the growing sophistication and scale of these attacks​.


Bots are deployed for a wide range of fraudulent activities, including:


     • Credential Stuffing: Testing stolen usernames and passwords to gain access to user accounts.

     • Fake Account Creation: Establishing accounts for downstream abuse, like phishing or monetization.

     • Payment Fraud: Testing stolen credit cards, leading to unauthorized transactions.

     • Ad Fraud: Inflating costs for pay-per-click campaigns while skewing marketing analytics.

     • Scalping: Using bots to hoard limited-availability products, which are resold at higher prices​​.


These activities cause direct financial losses for your company and harm customer trust and brand reputation.

 

Barriers to Effective Bot Detection


Modern bot attacks are marked by creativity and technical expertise. Fraudsters leverage tools like:

     • Residential Proxies: These proxies make malicious bot traffic appear legitimate, circumventing IP reputation checks.

     • Browser and Device Spoofing: Bots mask their origins by emulating genuine devices.

     • Cloud Virtual Machines: Enable rapid, large-scale attacks with minimal detection risk​​.


Businesses face several challenges in combatting these threats, including outdated detection solutions, high friction for legitimate users, and an influx of cybercrime-as-a-service tools​.