Bot Traffic Overtakes Human Activity as Threat Actors Turn to AI

infosecurity magazine ^ | 04 25 2025 | Phil Muncaster

[yesthatjallen]

Automated traffic now accounts for the majority of activity on the web, with the share of bad bot traffic surging from 32% to 37% annually last year, according to Thales.

The French defense giant’s 2025 Imperva Bad Bot Report is now in its 12th year, and based as always on data collected by Imperva’s global network, which apparently blocked 13 trillion bad bot requests across thousands of domains and industries last year.

Bot traffic accounted for 51% of the total last year, the first time it has surpassed human activity in a decade, the vendor claimed. It said that malicious activity was to blame for this increase – particularly the use of AI and large language models (LLMs) to simplify the creation of bad bots at scale.

ByteSpider Bot was responsible for 54% of all AI-enabled attacks last year, followed by Applebot (26%), ClaudeBot (13%) and ChatGPT User Bot (6%), the report claimed.

SNIP

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: activity; ai; bots; human; internet

[yesthatjallen]

Dead Internet Theory Confirmed: 51% of Traffic Now Non-Human (16 min video)

[crusty old prospector]

I wonder if you are real. Or, am I?

[DannyTN]

There is a lot of Bot traffic that is not a threat actor. How do they tell the difference?

[NonValueAdded]

How do they tell the difference?

They use a bot

[paulcissa]

There’s a lot of ways to discern traffic and payloads. You’re wandering into the realm of machine learning and presumptive AI. All tools for good if used in the right way.

[Deaf Smith]

There was a story a handful of years ago of a company being raided in Dallas and a number of company officers sentenced to prison.

The company’s business was internet ad sales.

Their crime was using bots to “click” on customers’ ads for traffic.

They got caught due to the bots only opening one page of the ad links.

[dfwgator]

I wonder if AI will be able to devise a bot that can ultimately shutdown the entire Internet.

[cableguymn]

I’m just waiting for the blad guy with the red and blue pills.

[Organic Panic]

I think, therefore I am

[wildcard_redneck]

[Billthedrill]

We already have soulless mechanisms without volition that do exactly what they are told to do with no regard for possible consequences. Don’t need bots if we have Democrats.

[Albion Wilde]

bump for later viewing

[fella]

Sounds like part of a “Firesign Theater” routine.

[minnesota_bound]

Google was found to display ads any where just to get the ad money. Large companies found out when their projection of sales was lower then expected. All Google did after being shown the evidence of fraud was say they will give those companies a discount on their next ad buy....