AI-driven bot attacks surge 12.5x as bad bots claim 40% of all internet traffic

'The challenge is no longer identifying bots. It's understanding what the bot, agent, or automation is doing': New report flags 40% of all internet traffic is now bad bots

* Automated bots now account for over half of global internet traffic, with malicious bots nearing 40% * AI‑driven bot attacks surged more than twelvefold in 2025, blurring lines between legitimate automation and abuse * A growing share of attacks target APIs, with financial services seeing nearly half of last year's account takeovers It's been a few years now since automated bot activity took up most of global web traffic, but "bad bots" are taking an ever-increasing share of that cake, and with AI agents being thrown into the mix, the problem is only getting more complex. A new report on bot activity, harvested from Thales' Threat Research and Security Analyst Services teams over 2025 found automated activity now represents more than 53% of all internet traffic, while the remaining 47% fall on human interaction. Bad bots, on the other hand, now take up almost 40% of all global web traffic. Blurring the lines AI-driven bot attacks have surged 12.5 times over the past year, Thales added. This evolution has moved beyond simple scripts for credential stuffing or price scraping and turned bots into sophisticated entities that can mimic human behavior with alarming precision. These "AI agents" are now in a category of their own, interacting directly with applications and APIs to perform complex tasks. As such, they are increasingly blurring the lines between legitimate business automation and malicious intent. "AI is transforming automation from something organizations try to block into something they must also manage," said Tim Chang, Global Vice President and General Manager, Application Security at Thales. "The challenge is no longer identifying bots. It's understanding what the bot, agent, or automation is doing, whether it aligns with business intent, and how it interacts with critical systems." A significant portion of this malicious activity (around 27%) is now targeted specifically at APIs. By bypassing traditional user interfaces, bots can interact with backend systems at machine speed, exploiting business logic and manipulating workflows. The trend is apparently most obvious in the financial services sector, where 46% of all account takeover incidents of last year happened. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

Bot Attacks Skyrocket: AI-Driven Threats Surge 12.5x in One Year

AI-driven automation is accelerating machine activity online as bots outpace humans and redefine how the internet operates Thales today released the 2026 Bad Bot Report: Bad Bots in the Agentic Age, revealing a fundamental shift in how the internet operates, as AI-accelerated automation becomes a defining feature of modern digital infrastructure. The findings highlight three major structural changes: the emergence of AI agents as a new category of internet traffic, the dominance of automated activity over human interaction, and the rapid expansion of attacks targeting APIs and identity systems that serve as the backbone of digital business. AI Is Redefining Internet Traffic and Security The report shows that AI is not just increasing the volume of bot activity, but fundamentally changing its nature. In 2025, AI-driven bot attacks surged 12.5x compared to the previous year. More significantly, AI agents are now emerging as a third category of traffic, alongside traditional "good" and "bad" bots, interacting directly with applications and APIs to retrieve data and perform tasks. This shift is blurring the line between legitimate and malicious automation, making it increasingly difficult for organizations to determine intent. "AI is transforming automation from something organizations try to block into something they must also manage," Tim Chang, Global Vice President and General Manager, Application Security at Thales, said. "The challenge is no longer identifying bots. It's understanding what the bot, agent, or automation is doing, whether it aligns with business intent, and how it interacts with critical systems." This evolution is creating a growing visibility gap. Much of today's AI-driven activity remains unverified or indistinguishable from legitimate traffic, meaning organizations are operating with an incomplete view of the risks they face. Bots Increasingly Outnumber Humans Online The report shows automation tightening its grip on the internet, with bots continuing to outpace human activity. In 2025, bots made up more than 53% of all web traffic, up from 51% the previous year, while human activity fell to 47%. This reflects a structural shift rather than a temporary trend, with bots no longer tied to specific events like scraping or credential stuffing campaigns, but instead operating as a persistent and expected presence across digital environments. APIs and Identity Systems Become the Primary Attack Surface As digital services increasingly rely on APIs to power core functionality, attackers are following suit. The report finds that 27% of bot attacks now target APIs, where bots can bypass user interfaces and interact directly with backend systems at machine speed. These attacks often appear legitimate, using valid authentication and well-formed requests, but exploit business logic, extract sensitive data, or manipulate workflows at scale. The impact is especially pronounced in high-value sectors. Financial services accounted for 24% of all bot attacks and 46% of account takeover incidents, underscoring how automation is being used to directly monetize cyberattacks. A New Era of Machine-Driven Interaction As AI adoption accelerates, the report reveals that the internet is now fundamentally machine driven. Bots are no longer simply tools used by attackers; they are active participants in digital systems, shaping traffic patterns, influencing business metrics, and interacting with systems in real time. In this environment, the ability to manage automation at scale with precision is critical to maintaining security, performance, and trust. Confronting the Rise of Uncontrolled Automation The report concludes that traditional security approaches focused on identifying and blocking bots are not sufficient in an environment where automation is both pervasive and often legitimate. Organizations must move toward a governance-based model, combining visibility, policy enforcement, and behavioral analysis to distinguish between acceptable and harmful automation. This includes defining which AI agents are allowed to interact with systems, implementing controls at the API and identity layer, and designing defenses that can adapt as bots evolve.