7th November, 2024
The battle against the ever-evolving bot landscape is not a straightforward one. Experts emphasise that security to fight bots involves more than just technology; organisational culture also plays a crucial role. At the same time, it is essential not to overlook the importance of agility and continuous risk assessments while dealing with bots.
Bot activity can be problematic, paving the way for identity theft and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) campaigns. The most sophisticated bots imitate human user behaviour, such as mouse movements and clicks, to deceive bot detection systems. Malicious bots interact with applications in a manner that mimics legitimate users. They are now equipped with Bots-as-a-Service (BaaS) for attacks such as phishing scams and DDoS attacks, as well as high-quality proxies, machine learning, and other tools that help them replicate human behaviour.
As for how airlines and their FFP’s can be attacked and need to be wary of bots, Arkose Labs points out that bots use techniques such as brute force attacks, credential stuffing and other forms of account takeover to infiltrate loyalty programs and siphon off rewards. Airlines can consider restricting the number of requests from an IP address or user account to prevent brute force attacks and excessive request.
The fight occurs on multiple levels:
- Highlighting the issue, the team at Kasada asserts that bots today can adversely impact every department—from site reliability to marketing, security, and fraud. Frequently, each department seeks its own solutions without recognising their shared objectives. By aligning their efforts, they could identify vendors or solutions that more effectively address both fraud and security issues. Fraud and security departments must break down silos and collaborate earnestly to combat this challenge.
- Continuous risk assessment for malicious bots involves the ongoing evaluation of potential threats posed by automated scripts that mimic human behaviour to exploit vulnerabilities in systems. By employing real-time monitoring and advanced analytics, organisations can detect unusual patterns of activity indicative of bot attacks, such as rapid request rates or abnormal user interactions. This proactive approach allows for the immediate identification of emerging threats, enabling swift responses to mitigate risks. Integrating continuous risk assessment into security protocols ensures that organisations remain agile in adapting to the evolving tactics of malicious bots.
Collaboration across departments, including IT, security, and compliance, enhances the effectiveness of these assessments.
The team at Feedzai recommends a “layered approach that integrates individual profiling, peer group analysis, and behavioural detection.
By Ritesh Gupta, Ai Events
