''Concerning Trend'': Almost Half Of All 2022 Web Traffic Came From Bots, Says Study

New research has revealed that nearly half of all internet traffic in 2022 came from bots, Independent reported. According to the 2023 Imperva Bad Bot Report, almost half (47.4%) of all internet traffic in 2022, came from bots, which is a 5.1% increase year-on-year. Meanwhile, the proportion of human traffic decreased to 52.6%, which is its lowest level in eight years.

Notably, a bot is a software application that runs automated tasks and is usually used to increase followers and engagement. Meanwhile, bad bots are software applications that run automated tasks with malicious intent and are capable of high-speed abuse, and misuse. Some can effectively mimic human behaviour in order to avoid being detected by security software.

''Bad bots interact with applications like legitimate users would, making them harder to detect and block. They abuse business logic by exploiting the way a business operates, rather than exploiting technical vulnerabilities. They enable high-speed abuse, misuse, and attacks on websites, mobile apps, and APIs. They allow bot operators, attackers, unsavoury competitors, and fraudsters to perform a wide array of malicious activities,'' the company said in its report.

The company started tracking the trend in 2013 and noted that so-called ''bad bots'' were at their highest level in 2022.

In 2022, the volume of bad bot traffic rose by 2.5% and now makes up 30.2% of all traffic, Imperva said. The report also states that this is the fourth consecutive year of constant bad bot traffic growth. 

''This is a concerning trend for businesses as advanced bad bots use the latest evasion techniques and closely mimic human behaviour to evade detection by cycling through random IPs, entering through anonymous proxies, and changing identities'', the researchers said.

They fear that bot activity is expected to increase even further this year with the arrival of OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard.

''Cyber criminals will increase their focus on attacking API endpoints and application business logic with sophisticated automation. As a result, the business disruption and financial impact associated with bad bots will become even more significant in the coming years'', the researchers noted.

Most of the bad bot activity takes place in Germany, Ireland, Singapore, Australia and the United States, the company noted, while adding that legal, government, travel, and retail industries are the most widely targeted by more advanced bots.

To avoid bad bots, Imperva has suggested users ensure their web browsers are always up to date.