Security News > 2021 > August > Unwanted bot traffic costs businesses $250 million a year

Netacea announced results from a report that reveals the high price that businesses pay because of unwanted bot traffic.

According to survey respondents, automated bots operated by malicious actors cost businesses an average of 3.6% of their annual revenue.

The report surveyed 440 businesses across the travel, entertainment, eCommerce, financial services and telecoms sectors in the United States and the UK. It found that every sector had a substantial bot problem, with two-thirds of businesses detecting website attacks.

"Last year, a particularly tough one for legitimate businesses already operating with razor-thin margins thanks to an economic slump, was a bumper year for those who use bots to leech off of those businesses-especially from bad actors who looked to take advantage of a significant shift to online working and retail," said Andy Still, CTO, Netacea.

Additional findings Over 80% of businesses reported that customer satisfaction had been negatively affected by bot activity, in particular scalper and sniper bots.

Only around 5% of security budgets are dedicated to bot mitigation, though for larger firms it's a little higher, at up to 20%. Account checker bots are the most popular form of bot attacks, taking advantage of data breaches and leaked passwords to compromise customer accounts.

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