Did you know that most cybersecurity attacks come from malicious bots? Hackers can use bots to post comment spam, exploit information, and wreak havoc on your website and servers. If you run a business the result can be catastrophic. Not only will you suffer huge financial losses but you risk damaging your reputation for a very long time. Managing cybersecurity can be a challenge. Even huge corporations like eBay, LinkedIn, Canva, and Adobe, have fallen victims to cyber-attacks and data breaches.
Today, it’s becoming even more challenging to manage these bots, because they are becoming more sophisticated. So, here are five tips on how you can protect your server from bots.
But First, There Are Good and Bad Bots
Before we get into bot management, you need to understand the difference between good and bad bots. There are good bots used by search engines like Microsoft and Google. These bots are completely legitimate. In fact, the good bots used by Google and Microsoft are beneficial to your business. They can identify the type of traffic that is coming to your business and help you rank higher in search engines.
You definitely don’t want to block them out.
Bad bots are increasingly becoming more high-level in the sense they are able to impersonate human users.
That’s why bot management is key.
What Is Bot Management?
Quite simply, bot management is all about managing bot activities. It may sound pretty straightforward, but you need to have a strategy so that you can filter out the bad bots from the good bots.
Managing bots mainly includes:
- Identifying genuine traffic from human users and good bots.
- Detecting malicious bots
- filtering out malicious bots why allowing authentic traffic to your website.
Bot management can be quite tricky but it’s essential. Here are a few tips on how to protect your server from bad bots.
How to Filter Out the Bad Bots
Use CAPTCHA
CAPTCHA is annoying when you are browsing a website or buying something online. However, as annoying as it is, it is very much needed. It protects your website server and your customers. Although the more advanced users can still get around it, it will still discourage many attackers.
Block All Access Points
If you have mobile apps and APIs, there is no use in protecting your website alone. Hackers can get in through APIs and mobile apps. Block information between systems wherever needed. Don’t leave any backdoors open.
Watch Failed Login Attempts
Monitor failed login attempts, and monitor spikes these attempts. A good way to do this is to set up automatic alerts so you are notified straight away when any occur.
Check Traffic Sources
Having numerous traffic sources is great for business, the more the better. But, are you seeing lower conversions from certain traffic sources? Are there high bounce rates? These are some telltale signs that will help you identify and block bot traffic.
Examine Traffic Spikes
It’s always great when you see a spike in traffic. But, if there is an unexplained reason for the spike and no clear source, it may be some bad bot activity.
Pay Attention To Public Data Breaches
Whenever a large public data breach occurs, it means your website and servers become even more vulnerable. That’s because stolen information is likely to stay active. Bad bots increase the frequency of running them against websites.
Most Common Cyberthreats
Brute force attacks and credential stuffing. This is an attempt by an automated bot that tries to guess a user’s details by using all possible combinations until once is accepted.
Information harvest. Attackers use malicious bots to scan social media pages and websites for personal information. They then use this to launch phishing attacks.
Content scraping. Attackers use bots that extract data from websites. Websites with price-sensitive information are the most prone to these types of attacks.
The Bottom Line
Applying a bot management strategy is no longer an option but a necessity. Malicious bots are becoming more complex and less easy to detect. Monitor your traffic, look out for any unusual activity, and always be alert. If you want to protect your server from bots, your business, and information, you need to not only implement a bot management solution like DataDome but also, constantly monitor and evaluate any potential threats.