Bad bots made up almost a third of all internet traffic last year

by DTM | Posted on

Almost a third of all internet traffic registered in 2023 was generated by bad bots, a new report has claimed.

An internet bot is a piece of software that runs automated tasks on the internet, such as messaging, on a large scale. Bad bots, on the other hand, do all sorts of malicious activity, such as web scraping, account takeover, spam, or denial of service. They degrade online services and force businesses into higher investments in customer support and internet infrastructure.

The 2024 Imperva Bad Bot Report, the latest edition of the company’s analysis of automated bot traffic across the internet, found bad bot traffic hit 32% in 2023, up from 30.2% a year before. Human traffic, on the other hand, decreased to 50.4%. 

Bots on the rise

Since Imperva started tracking automated traffic, more than a decade ago, the percentage of bot traffic, compared to overall traffic, was growing year-over-year. Today, roughly half (49.6%) of all internet traffic is generated by bots, up 2% year-on-year. 

“Bots are one of the most pervasive and growing threats facing every industry,” says Nanhi Singh, General Manager, Application Security at Imperva, a Thales company. “Organizations must proactively address the threat of bad bots as attackers sharpen their focus on API-related abuses that can lead to account compromise or data exfiltration.”

Ireland saw the highest level of bad bot traffic last year, hitting 71%. It was followed by Germany (67.5%), and Mexico (42.8%). In the US, the percentage also grew somewhat, from 32.1% to 35.4%.

Bad bots are not limited to a specific industry, the researchers further said, claiming that “every industry has a bot problem.” Still, gaming saw the largest proportion of bad bot traffic with 57.2%. Retail (24.4%), Travel (20.7%), and Financial Services (15.7%), experienced the highest volume of bot attacks.

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