Bot detection techniques and blocking bad bots is an essential security priority for all types of businesses, preventing crime, fraud, website slowdowns and outages, protecting confidential data, stopping bot activities like content scraping, account takeover, financial fraud, DDoS attacks, API abuse, scalping and ad fraud, among many others.

Identifying bots requires an advanced bot detection and management solution that analyzes every request in real time to develop a unique fingerprint for each visitor to your site, mobile app or API. When a bot is detected, the solution should work in real-time to block it, show it a CAPTCHA, feed it with fake data, or drop the connection, based on your organization’s needs and requirements.

The main problem is that bots are constantly changing their command and control (C&C) servers, protocols, and C&C content – often referred to as fast flux. This makes traditional IP-based detectors ineffective for Gen1 and Gen2 bot traffic that uses data center proxies and Tor exit nodes.

A Comprehensive Guide to Bot Detection Techniques: How to Protect Your Website from Cyber Threats

In addition, there are other factors that can be used to identify bots such as usage abnormalities like quick navigation and form completion. A sudden increase in your pageviews and bounce rates may also be a sign of bot traffic.

The best bot detection solutions will automatically analyze all your web, mobile app and API requests to help detect suspicious and malicious bot traffic without impacting your user experience. This is achieved by developing a unique fingerprint for each visitor and taking measures to mitigate bot threats such as blocking, showing a CAPTCHA, feeding it with fake data or dropping the connection, based on your business’s specific requirements.