Back in 2021, we covered the antics of Grinch Bots and how the combination of proposed regulation and technology could prevent these malicious programs from stealing holiday cheer. Fast-forward to 2024 — the Stop Grinch Bots Act of 2021 has not passed, and bots are more active and powerful than ever, leaving businesses to fend off increasingly sophisticated attacks on their own.

In 2020, scalper bots made headlines by hoarding PlayStation 5 consoles. Lockdowns and online-only sales allowed bots to dominate the market, leaving frustrated consumers empty-handed. Today, scalper bots are even more dangerous. Criminal groups behind these operations have evolved. They are organized, professional, and focused on more sustainable targets: low-value items in massive quantities.

Imagine this: you're at home, eagerly waiting for the new device you ordered from Amazon. The package arrives, you power it on, and start enjoying all the benefits of 21st century technology—unaware that, as soon as you powered it on, a scheme was unfolding within this device. Welcome to the world of BADBOX. BADBOX is a large-scale cybercriminal operation selling off-brand Android TV boxes, smartphones, and other Android electronics with preinstalled malware. What does this mean?

The battle between bots and anti-bot tools is a relentless arms race. Bot operators constantly develop new ways to outsmart defenses, and defenders adapt to counter those tactics. As one side evolves, the other quickly follows suit. This ongoing conflict has grown more intricate over the years. Initially, bots mimicked traits like browsers, IPs, user agents, and mouse and keyboard inputs used by human visitors. These tricks sufficed to bypass primitive defenses.

APIs have become the backbone of modern digital ecosystems, powering everything from mobile apps to e-commerce platforms. However, as APIs grow in importance, they also become prime targets for malicious actors. Increasingly, bots are being weaponized to exploit vulnerabilities, overwhelm systems, and siphon sensitive data—all without triggering alarms until it’s too late.

Since the early days of the World Wide Web, automated scripts known as bots have been crawling cyberspace, collecting data for various purposes. Initially, these bots were designed to be helpful, cataloging information much like search engines such as Google and Bing do today. However, the volume of automated requests has grown significantly. Today, bots account for a substantial portion of web traffic, costing businesses considerable resources to handle unwanted or malicious requests.

Welcome back to The Evolution of Scalper Bots series. In our previous blog, we analyzed the rise of professional scalper bot ecosystems. This included cook groups, bots-as-a-service platforms, and retail scalping’s emergence. As technical advancements drove fierce competition, we unraveled the complex dynamics of this controversial industry.

API abuse and web application bot attacks are often confused. This is understandable, as both involve automated interactions and are usually executed by bots. Both attack vectors are prevalent; criminals are always eager to disrupt the foundations on which businesses base their operations to achieve their malicious goals and they frequently automate their actions for maximum results.

As Black Friday approaches, retailers are gearing up for the inevitable surge in online traffic. But cybercriminals are also preparing for this high-stakes season, fine-tuning their bot attack strategies to exploit inventory, pricing, and customer accounts. To shed light on these threats and what retailers can do to prepare, we consulted five experts from Netacea who shared their insights on the bot attack landscape during Black Friday and beyond.