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Almost half of the world’s Internet traffic is generated by bots, not ordinary users
In 2022, bots accounted for 47.4% of all Internet traffic, which is 5.1% more than in 2021. This is reported by Security Magazine with reference to the annual study of cybersecurity experts from Imperva called «2022 Bad Bot Report». Experts have found that ordinary users account for only 52.6% of global traffic, which has fallen to its lowest level in the last eight years.
According to the study, for the fourth year in a row, the number of «bad» bots — malicious automated programs that can be used to send spam, spyware, DDoS attacks, and hack websites — has been growing in Internet traffic. In 2022, their share increased to 30.2%, which is 2.5% more than in 2021.
The sophistication of malicious bots has also increased. In 2022, there were 51.2% of «advanced» programs, while in 2021 this figure was 25.9%. Cyberattacks aimed at taking over user accounts increased by 155% in 2022.
17% of all API attacks were carried out by malicious bots.
Tourism (24.7%), retail (21%), and financial services (12.7%) suffered the largest number of cyberattacks. The gaming segment (58.7%) and telecommunications (47.7%) had the highest share of malicious bot traffic on their websites and mobile applications.
Of the 13 countries monitored by Imperva researchers, seven had a malicious bot traffic rate that exceeded 30.2%, the global average. The three anti-leaders are Germany (68.6%), Ireland (45.1%), and Singapore (43.1%). In the United States, the figure was also slightly higher than average — 32.1%.
Imperva experts emphasized that every fifth malware bot was launched from the Mobile Safari browser. In comparison, in 2021, the browser’s potential for exploits was used only in 16.1% of cases.
Earlier, we talked about a virus for macOS users that can steal cryptocurrency. A new malware for stealing information from macOS devices called Atomic (also known as AMOS) is currently being actively distributed through private Telegram channels for a subscription of $ 1000 per month.