Bots make up a significant portion of overall web traffic, with 42% of all internet traffic being attributed to automated bots. According to Akamai, a staggering 65% of these bots are deemed to be malicious in nature. The prevalence of these malicious bots has raised concerns not just in terms of fraud and security, but also in how they impact various aspects of business operations.

One of the most detrimental effects of these malicious bots, particularly scraper bots, is the negative impact they have on businesses. Web scraping, the practice of extracting data from websites, poses a threat to revenue generation, competitive advantage, brand reputation, customer experience, infrastructure costs, and overall digital experience for organizations. The ecommerce sector, which heavily relies on web applications for revenue, has been particularly vulnerable to high-risk bot traffic.

While some bots may serve a beneficial purpose for businesses, scraper bots are often used for nefarious activities such as competitive intelligence, espionage, inventory hoarding, and creating imposter sites. These actions not only damage the organization’s bottom line but also erode trust among customers. Unfortunately, the lack of existing laws prohibiting the use of scraper bots coupled with the increasing sophistication of AI botnets make it difficult to detect and mitigate these threats.

In some cases, scraper bots have been used to gather product images, descriptions, and pricing information for the creation of counterfeit storefronts or phishing sites aimed at stealing sensitive information from unsuspecting consumers. These phishing and counterfeit sites not only deceive customers but also harm the brand identity of victim organizations by impersonating their intellectual property.

Patrick Sullivan, CTO of Security Strategy at Akamai, emphasized the challenges posed by bots, particularly in terms of web scraping, which can lead to data theft and brand impersonation. Advancements in technology, such as headless browser technology, have further complicated the landscape, necessitating a more sophisticated approach to managing bot activity for organizations.

Moreover, AI botnets have the capability to scrape unstructured data and leverage business intelligence to make informed decisions. This poses a significant risk as scraper bots can enable more advanced phishing campaigns by creating counterfeit sites that aim to deceive users into disclosing their credentials or financial information. Additionally, bots can facilitate new account opening abuse, accounting for up to 50% of fraud losses according to recent research.

The technical impacts of web scraping on organizations are manifold, ranging from website performance degradation and compromised credentials attacks to increased compute costs and metric pollution. Regardless of the intent behind web scraping, organizations are faced with the financial burden of dealing with these side effects. While some companies may opt for beneficial scraping services, those being targeted by scraper bots are left to bear the costs of mitigating these threats on their own.

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