Bots are all around us. These little pieces of software mimic human behavior and guide us through various processes, like customer service. They are everywhere; in fact, they reportedly comprise about 50 per cent of the internet traffic. The sheer numbers, coupled with their ability to be good or bad, make deploying bot management software a critical part of improving users’ security posture. Let us take a deep dive and see what trends are driving the market for bot management software.
- Zero trust plus edge: Zero trust is becoming a must to ensure secure access. Trends like remote work are making organizational security perimeters a liability, rather than an asset, as the castle and moat model is not particularly useful in such situations. In such a situation, where web apps and APIs remain favorite targets of cyber attackers, integration of bot mitigation capabilities into zero trust frameworks will allow security engineers to monitor user behavior, device state, and provide real-time just enough access for just enough time. Adding edge management will allow organizations to provide multi-layered defenses. Zero trust will ensure user authenticity, while edge management blocks the bad bot traffic. This process results in a reduction of wasted bandwidth, risk of brute force and DDoS attacks, and the most critical user-related function: latency.
- AI supercharging bad bots: This is the reason for the 50 pc figure stated in the opening. AI is making it easy for attackers to launch attacks, while the ML capability of learning allows them to fine-tune the attacks. We are already witnessing a malevolent cousin of Software as a Service (SaaS) named Malware as a Service (MaaS). We are already seeing bots perform tasks like using residential proxies to spoof their locations. They are also mimicking human behavior to go past gates like CAPTCHAs. The danger grows manifold when these bots join hands with headless browsers. These are your regular web browsers, with one thing missing: the GUI. This makes the browser speedier and lightweight. This software is generally used for automated testing, layout testing, performance benchmarking, and web scraping. They are also used to run end-to-end tests on forms, user flows, and scripts. As stated above, the browser’s lack of UI to render enables faster test execution. These tests can then be integrated into CI/CD pipelines. Simultaneously, the software is becoming a favorite of the so-called bad actors. These browsers, in combination with bots, allow the bad actors to perform A LOT of fraudulent activities, such as generating fake clicks and ad impressions. This is made possible due to the ability to simulate humanlike mouse movements and clicks. This ability is very useful to get paid for web traffic that looks human-generated, but really is not. The combination can also be deployed as potent agents for performing complex tasks like creating fake accounts and launching DDoS attacks at scale. Access to scraping allows the attackers to rotate the bots’ identity and device fingerprints, making distributed bot attacks that much complex.
- AI vs AI: This is really arising out of the previous point, where the situation of AI turbocharging bots with various types of harmful capacities was discussed. While AI is being used to create threats, AI and machine learning will also be used to combat the threats. Machine learning is particularly useful as it can “learn” from previous attacks.
- This traffic is fake, so is that: Despite technological advancements, ad fraud, where the bad guys get away by generating false clicks on internet ads, continues to be a headache for organizations. Expect even more investment this year in bot management products to stop such threats and keep their marketing costs down by denying access to players using bots to artificially generate traffic to an ad.
- APIs top the hitlist/s: APIs, which connect the back and front ends, are becoming ubiquitous, thus becoming a favorite target of the bad actors. To start with, each new API stretches the attack surface. The risk is further increased when an app is built through a no-code or low-code platform, as it may not be rigorously tested for security. Another critical factor is mobile apps. While both web-based and mobile apps may have similar APIs, the method of exploitation may differ across the channels. The use of third-party APIs adds to the chaos. As the complexity increases, so does the likelihood of attacks. Thus, APIs are now becoming one more frontline in the eternal war between the black hats and the white and gray hats.
- Compliance becoming (even more) stricter: This one is fairly expected. 2025 has already been rocked by a whole lot of breaches and attacks. The data privacy norms get more stricter year after year. The trend will definitely continue this year as the race between the black and white hats continues to influence the markets. This is more critical as the penalties for noncompliance have mostly been shifted from fines to serious damage to the brand image and heavy fines.
Final take:
Lokesh Biswal, security analyst at QKS Group, elaborates “The combination of zero trust and edge computing is revolutionizing cybersecurity in the face of an increasingly fierce arms race between malicious bots powered by AI and sophisticated bot management tools. Organizations must use AI-driven defenses to stay ahead of the curve as regulatory demands increase, and APIs become prime targets. This strategy will help protect digital ecosystems and user trust from the constant onslaught of malicious bots.”
Technology changes, but people remain the same. Bots, by themselves, are not a threat. They become one when they end up with bad actors who are using technologies like AI to make them badder. On the other side of the fence, the “good guys” are also using AI for “not bad” goals. In other words, the battle is not between humans and bots. It is between humans and smart bots vs smarter bad bots. Are you ready?