The bot crisis: Automation overtakes human traffic

By Tom Howe, Director of Field Engineering, Hydrolix

Most traffic on the internet today is driven by bots. AI-driven bot traffic has surged 300% in the past year. At Hydrolix, we saw one company face a six figure overcharge by their Internet Service Provider due to AI-driven bot traffic. It is creating an environment where automated abuse is a primary driver of fraud, traffic volatility, and customer friction too.

Between 14% and 22% of paid search clicks are invalid, with bots driving nearly 40% of that fraudulent activity. Meanwhile, credential-based attacks fueled by infostealer malware and leaked identity data continue to rise at triple-digit rates year over year. This nonsense traffic is costing companies a fortune, wasting resources, and opening opportunities for detrimental cyber attacks.

Combating these bots requires a comprehensive bot strategy, one that includes classification because not all bots are bad, and instant detection to ...