Bots are drafted by cybercriminals to abuse the sign-up process, scrape sites and launch high volume login attacks. Dan Lowden, Chief Marketing Officer, White Ops details counter-steps to combat sophisticated bot-campaigns across advertising, marketing and cybersecurity.
It may have been easy to spot the bot before (anyone remember SmarterChild on AIM?), but they are more human than ever, making them nearly indistinguishable from real users. And with as human-like as they have become, they’ve become especially appealing to cybercriminals Opens a new window who can weaponize millions of them at one time. As a result, sophisticated bots are becoming much more malicious and damaging to every enterprise across the globe.
One area that has seen a sharp uptick in malicious bot activity is web applicationsOpens a new window . Most enterprises rely on web applications in some way, many through e-commerce portals, while others require web applications for employees to carry out core business duties. Web application attacks were responsible for 43% of data breaches in the last year, more than double compared to the year prior, according to Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigation ReportOpens a new window . Without a cohesive defense strategy in place, these applications leave themselves vulnerable to potentially devastating consequences. In order to fight back, it is critical to understand how and why bots have evolved, and to use this knowledge to improve security tactics.
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Bots Aren’t new – Why Now?
Just as our own technology has evolved, sophisticated bots have evolved with it enabling cybercriminals to follow the money.
- A wave of devices have entered homes around the world in recent months due to the COVID-19 crisis and often lack in security measures, as standards haven’t yet been implemented or adopted. We’ve seen this in home security device takeoversOpens a new window and outdated routerOpens a new window software. The bots of yesteryear originated from data centers, giving them away easily. But today, these devices can be taken over by bots to track and study real-world activity, allowing bots and fraudsters to be more human-like and giving them access to localized residential IP addresses. The bots are coming from inside the house (literally, in some cases). All of these factors working in concert make it harder for web security measures to detect fraudulent activity.
- Massive amounts of stolen credentials for sale at a cheap price on the dark web can be purchased with new data sets released every day. When 34 percent of organizations do not require multi-factor authentication, according to ESG researchOpens a new window , purchasing a set of credentials is more than enough for bots to slip by unnoticed. It may look like a human, but it’s not always a human. Bad actors can acquire tens of millions of stolen credentials and set sophisticated bots loose on websites to empty bank accounts or steal credit card information.
- Sophisticated bots look incredibly human-like online and don’t typically show obvious signs of automation because they originate from legitimate browsers, have valid IP addresses, and are beginning to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to correct their mistakes in real time.
These factors make it difficult for current web application security solutions to detect and fend off bot activity. So how can security professionals protect their company’s websites and applications from sophisticated bot attacks?
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Understanding New Attack Methods
Previously, simple bots were leveraged by cybercriminals in order to scrape simple sites, and occasionally to launch high volume login attacksOpens a new window . These attacks were rudimentary and easy to detect. Now that bots have increased sophistication and can hijack residential IP addresses, the most common attacks against web applications Opens a new window have become more sophisticated as well.
For example, web scraping—in which bots are able to “scrape†a web application’s code in order to steal intellectual property—has become an increasing popular technique. Not only does this technique allow cybercriminals Opens a new window to create realistic behaviors, but they can create spoofed web domains, aiming to trick potential users. All while slowing down the legitimate site in the process.
Bots can also be used for massive credential stuffing campaigns, enabling cybercriminals to gain login details, or even enabling them to take over real accounts. On top of that, cybercriminals can use bots to abuse the sign-up process, giving criminals the opportunity to generate spam or disinformation campaigns, launder money, and abuse incentive programs.
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Protection is Possible
It’s well established that sophisticated bot attacks are harder to spot than their simpler precedents, but organizations must adapt their defenses and security Opens a new window measures to protect their web applications. They need solutions that have evolved past looking simply at a bot’s actions and instead take into account the overall context of a user, including indicators like IP addressOpens a new window , automation, remote control, click activity, and network of origination.
Now that bots can adapt and make changes to their activity in real time, security solutions need to do the same. Look for solutions that use continuous analysis and machine learning to develop new tests and markers that are able to draw connections among identifiers. With these solutions the overall context will become clearer. Tools that monitor threat intelligence on a global scale can also provide deeper insights and collect real-time details on the latest bot-fueled tactics used by cybercriminals, enabling securityOpens a new window professionals and solutions to proactively identify threats and adapt in real time.
Fortunately, as awareness of these sophisticated attacks grows, more organizations are realizing that security tools and measures currently in place are not up to par, and are looking for more advanced ways to combat sophisticated bots. As the tech industry continues to innovate and ingratiate within the daily lives of consumers around the world, active protection will become a necessity. White Ops Bot MitigationOpens a new window Platform enables complete protection from sophisticated bot attacks across advertising, marketing and cybersecurity.
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