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How to manage good bots? Difference between good bots and bad bots

How to manage good bots? Difference between good bots and bad bots

By Gcore

February 9, 2023

12 min read

How to manage good bots? Difference between good bots and bad bots

A bot, short for “robot,” is a type of software program that can automatically perform tasks quickly and efficiently. These tasks can range from simple things like getting weather updates and news alerts to more complex ones like data entry and analysis. While bots can be beneficial in our daily lives, they are also associated with malicious activities we’re all too familiar with, such as DDoS attacks and credit card fraud.

In this post, we’ll dive deep into the topic and explore the difference between good bots and bad bots. You’ll learn about bot management, including best practices and available tools to identify and implement them. By the time you finish reading, you’ll have a good grasp on how to properly manage bots on your website or application—and how to keep any bad bots from getting through the door.

What is a good bot?

Good bots, also known as helpful or valuable bots, are software programs that are designed to perform specific tasks that benefit the user or the organization. They are built to improve the user experience on the internet.

For instance, good bots crawl through websites, examining the content to ensure it is safe. Search engines like Google use these crawlers to check web pages and improve search results. Also, good bots can be found performing various tasks such as gathering and organizing information, conducting analytics, sending reminders, and providing basic customer service.

Now that you’re familiar with what a good bot is, let’s take a look at some specific instances of their use “in the wild.”

The following are examples of good bots:

Search engine crawlers. Googlebots and Bingbots are web crawlers that help the search engines Google and Bing, respectively, index and rank web pages. These types of bots comb through the entire internet to find the best content that can enhance search engine results.
Site monitoring bot. This type of bot is used to continuously monitor a website or web application for availability, performance, and functionality. It helps detect (and alert us about) issues that could affect the user experience, such as slow page load times, broken links, or server errors. Some examples of these are Uptime Robot, StatusCake, and Pingdom.
Social media crawlers. Social networking sites use bots like these to make better content recommendations as well as battle spam and fake accounts, all with the intent of presenting an optimal and safe online environment for the site’s users. Examples of such bots are the Facebook crawler and Pinterest crawler.
Chatbot. Facebook’s Messenger and Google Assistant are bots that can automate repetitive tasks like responding to chat messages. They mimic human conversation by replying to specific prompts with predetermined answers. Another example, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, serves as a highly advanced chatbot, utilizing AI/ML technology to simulate human conversation and provide automated responses to individual queries. This can save time and resources for organizations of all sizes, whether it’s a big company, a small business, or even an individual user.
Voice bot. Also referred to as voice-enabled chatbots, these run on AI-powered software that can accept voice commands and respond with voice output. They provide users with a more efficient means of communication when compared to text-based chatbots. Well-known examples of voice bots include Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and the above-mentioned Google Assistant.
Aggregator bot. Like the name implies, this bot vacuums up web data, gathering information on a wide range of topics—weather updates, stock prices, news headlines, etc. It brings all of this information together and presents it in one convenient location. Google News and Feedly are examples of aggregator bots in action.

There are many other fields where good bots are in use—in fintech (making split-second decisions in the stock market), in video games (as automated players), in healthcare (assisting with research tasks and test analysis), and numerous other applications.

We’ve covered the basics of what good bots are and how they are employed for our benefit—now it’s time to start talking about the bad ones.

What is a bad bot?

Bad bots are a type of software application that is created with the intention of causing harm. They are programmed to perform automated tasks such as scraping website content, spamming, hacking, and committing fraud. Unlike good bots that assist users, bad bots have the opposite effect: spreading disinformation, crashing websites, infiltrating social media sites, using fake accounts to spam malicious content, etc.

Imagine the impact on specific individuals or organizations once bad bots target them. The result can be financial loss, reputational damage, even legal issues if sensitive information is stolen or shared—or all of the above. It can also lead to identity theft or other types of cybercrime. The consequences can be severe, and individuals and industries must take necessary precautions to protect themselves from bad bots.

Read on to familiarize yourself with instances of bad bots and how they operate.

Examples of bad bots are the following:

Web content scraper. Initially, there are some positives in using web content scrapers (for ethical purposes), but mostly it’s being used with bad intentions. The intent is to crawl websites and collect confidential data, such as personal details and financial information, which can be used for identity theft, financial fraud and/or data breaches. For instance, a cybercriminal may target an e-commerce website with a scraper designed to extract sensitive information, resulting in financial losses for both individuals and businesses.
Spammer bot. Bots utilized to send spam messages or post spam comments on websites and social media platforms. As per SpamLaws, spam is responsible for 14.5 billion messages globally per day, representing 45% of all emails generated—and the bots are responsible for a significant part of it.
DDoS bot. These bots are used to launch DDoS attacks against websites by overwhelming them with traffic, making those sites unavailable to legitimate users. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of these bad bots, resulting in DDoS attacks that have become more complex than ever before.
Click fraud bot. A bot created specifically to artificially inflate advertising platform revenue by clicking on links or ads. Bad bots generate these fake page views and clicks, distorting the real metrics of ad performance, which in turn defrauds advertisers. According to Statista, digital advertising fraud costs are predicted to rise from $35 billion to $100 billion between 2018 and 2023, potentially causing significant losses for online publishers.

Account takeover bot. This type of bad bot attempts to gain unauthorized access to a user’s online account by automating the process of guessing or cracking login credentials. Once access is gained, the bot can carry out malicious activities, such as credit card fraud or stealing sensitive information.

Take note that malicious and harmful bots have become more advanced in recent years because of cybercriminals, making them more challenging to identify and block—the bots have evolved from basic crawlers to more sophisticated programs that mimic human behavior, using advanced techniques to avoid detection.

Let’s now proceed to highlighting some telltale signs—the indicators—that will help inform you if a particular bot is good or evil.

How do you best identify the good bots from bad bots?

We’ve discussed various ways in which bots are utilized today. The difference lies in the intention of the person who created the bot—it can be either useful or harmful. From the perspective of a business owner or a regular user, how can you distinguish between good and bad bots? Even for someone who is new to the subject, there are ways to differentiate between the two.

Approach & methods	How it works	Good bots identification	Bad bots identification
User Agent Analysis	The website owner can check the user-agent strings of incoming traffic to their site. This information is stored in the HTTP header and is easily accessible for analysis.	A bot scans your website to index it for search engines. The official Google bot typically identifies itself by using its user agent ID, such as “Googlebot” or something similar, to let website owners know that it is indeed a bot from Google. The same thing applies for the Bing bot.	Regular users and good bots typically have a recognizable user agent ID, which can identify them and their purpose. On the other hand, if a bot doesn’t include a user agent ID or the ID is unknown, this could indicate that the bot is malicious and should be treated as a potential threat.
Behavior Analysis	This approach is used to identify the bot’s behavior or network. The program looks at the request frequency, IP address, and content of the request.	A good bot is likely to make requests at a consistent rate, with a small number of requests per minute.	A bad bot might make excessive requests, attempting to scrape data or overwhelm the website.
IP address Analysis	A method used to identify the source of incoming traffic on a website or network. Checking the IP address can determine if it belongs to a credible source or not.	Good bots often use static IP addresses, meaning that the same IP address is used consistently for all requests. There’s a known list of IP addresses of confirmed good bots to check and compare.	Bad bots often use dynamic IP addresses, which change frequently, making it more difficult to identify and track their activity.
CAPTCHA Challenge	CAPTCHA is a technique used to distinguish between good and bad bots by presenting a challenge to the user. The most common type of challenge is a distorted text or image that must be solved before accessing a website. Moreover, Google’s reCAPTCHA can be used for free to protect websites from spam and abuse. Unlike traditional CAPTCHAs, reCAPTCHA employs advanced algorithms and machine learning models to analyze user behavior.	Good bots, such as search engine crawlers, are designed to mimic human behavior and solve simple CAPTCHA challenges. With the help of Google’s reCAPTCHA It identifies good bots by analyzing the IP address reputation, browser behavior, device information and cookie usage.	Google’s reCAPTCHA can identify and block malicious bots. It uses various signals to determine if a request is made by a human or a bot, such as the IP address, browser type, and other characteristics. If the system suspects that a request comes from a bad bot, it may ask the user to complete a challenging and complex task or puzzle.

What is bot management and how does it work?

Bot management is necessary for identifying, monitoring, and tracking the behavior of bots on a website or network. It aims to manage good bots, which are beneficial to the website or network, while protecting against bad bots, which can cause harm. The goal is to take advantage of the good bots and eliminate the negative impact of the malicious ones.

For a business/website owner, bot management is of utmost importance, as it plays a vital role in protecting your online assets and maintaining the integrity of your website. Here are a few key reasons why bot management should be on your radar:

Protects against spam and fraud. Bot management can help identify and prevent spam and fraudulent activities on your website. This not only protects your business and its reputation, but it also helps ensure the safety of your customers.
Maintains website performance. Bots in general can consume a significant amount of your website’s resources, slowing down the performance and affecting the user experience. Properly managing bots helps to regulate and control the bot traffic, reduce the load on your servers and maintain the website and SEO performance.
Ensures fair competition. Managing bots also helps prevent the use of bad bots from unethical scraping of a website’s content, ensuring a fair and level playing field for all businesses. For instance, web scraping can be used by your competitor to research and analyze your website—for example, to find out what your best product offerings, features, categories, and bundle deals are. Competitors can also use illegal scraping of SEO strategies, social media presence, and consumer feedback through comments, posts and reviews.
Protects against legal liabilities. Managing bots protects you against legal liabilities and strengthens user privacy. A bot management system could help an organization comply with, for example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The protocol requires companies to protect the personal data of EU citizens, making sure that the data is processed in a transparent and secure manner.
Compliance with regulations. Certain industries and sectors are subject to regulations that require them to protect user data and prevent malicious activity. Managing bots can help organizations and website owners to comply with these regulations and avoid costly fines.
Protects online advertising revenue. Malicious bots can compromise online advertising systems, leading to lost revenue for publishers and advertisers. You can prevent this by blocking harmful bots from accessing advertising networks.
Preserves the integrity of online data and analytics. Bot management helps to prevent bots from skewing website analytics and distorting the data that businesses rely on to make informed decisions.

In bot management, the process typically involves several technical components. Let’s take a look at how this system works and see some examples.

Component	Description	Example
Bot Detection	This is the first step in the bot management process. It involves identifying bots that are accessing your website or application. It can be done by different approaches such as user-agent analysis, IP address analysis and behavioral analysis.	A website admin uses IP address analysis as an approach to determine if the incoming request is from a known good bot, such as Googlebot, or a known bad bot, such as botnet.
Bot Classification	Once bots have been detected, the next step is to classify them into good bots and bad bots. This is done based on the information gathered during bot detection.	After classifying if it’s a good bot—let’s say it’s a search engine crawler—the website admin then lets these bots crawl through the website. If it’s a bad bot, the admin blocks traffic from it.
Bot Filtering	This is the process of blocking or limiting the access of bad bots to your website or application. This can be done using various methods, such as rate limiting, IP blocking, and CAPTCHA challenges.	For example, the website admin can use rate limiting, which involves setting a maximum number of requests that a bot can make to your website or application within a given time period.
Bot Monitoring	Bot monitoring is the process of keeping track of a bot’s activities such as automated programs that perform various tasks online. This is important because bots can be used for both good and bad purposes. Without proper monitoring, they can cause security risks, harm businesses, or negatively impact consumers.	An ecommerce website’s administrator can utilize bot monitoring to track the quantity of requests made by each bot to the site and compare it to their past data. This helps identify any abrupt increases in activity that might suggest malicious behavior. If the monitoring system detects any harmful bots, it may automatically block them or notify the administrator for closer examination.
Bot Reporting	A process of generating reports on bot activity. These reports include the number of bots detected, the types of bots, and the actions taken to manage the bots. They can be used to track the effectiveness of your bot management system and make informed decisions about future bot management strategies.	For instance, using bot reporting like log analysis, dashboards and alerts. These practices can generate daily or weekly reports on the activity of bots on the website, including the number of bots detected, the types of bots detected, and the actions taken to manage the bots.

These are a few examples of some of the technical components in bot management. Apart from the ones mentioned above, there are some specific components and tools used depending on the unique needs and requirements of your website and application. This may include bot management solutions that are a paid service and can be purchased online.

Within the market, there are complex, third party solutions designed to protect websites and apps from malicious bots. They’re designed to detect bots, distinguish between good and bad ones, block malicious activities, gather logs, and continuously evolve to stay ahead of the rising threat of bad bots. These solutions make it easier for website/app owners, as the owners don’t need to build their own protection—simply activate a third-party service and enjoy the protection it provides. One such service is Gcore Protection, and we will discuss how it works and helps fight against bad bots.

How does Gcore protection work against bad bots?

Gcore offers a comprehensive web security solution that includes robust bot protection. We understand the growing concern surrounding bad bots and our solution tackles this challenge through a three-level approach.

DDoS Protection. Our first level offers protection against common L3/L4 volumetric attacks, which are often used in DDoS attacks. This reduces the risk of service outages and prevents website performance degradation.

Discover more details about Gcore’s DDoS protection.
Web Application Firewall. Our WAF employs a combination of real-time monitoring and advanced machine learning techniques to protect user information and prevent the loss of valuable digital assets. The DDoS protection system at Gcore functions by continuously evaluating incoming traffic in real-time, checking it against set rules, calculating request features based on assigned weights, and blocking requests that exceed the defined threshold score.
Bot Protection. By using Gcore’s Bot Protection, you can safeguard your online services from overloading and ensure a seamless business workflow. This level of protection utilizes a set of algorithms designed to remove any unwanted traffic that has already entered the perimeter. As a result, it mitigates website fraud attacks, eliminates request form spamming, and prevents brute-force attacks.

Our bot protection guarantees defense against these malicious bot activities:

Web content scraping
Account takeover
Form submission abuse
API data scraping
TLS session attacks

At Gcore, our users enjoy complete protection from both typical invasive approaches, such as botnet attacks, as well as those that can be disguised or mixed in with legitimate traffic from real users or good bots like search engine crawlers. This, combined with the ability to integrate with a WAF, empowers our clients to effectively manage the impact of attacks across the network, transport, and application layer. Here are the key benefits and security features you can expect with Gcore’s all in one web security against DDoS attacks (L3, L4, L7), hacking threats and malicious bot activities.

Key benefits	Security features
Maintain uninterrupted service during intense attacks	Global traffic filtering with a widespread network
Focus on running your business instead of fortifying web security	DDoS attack resistance with growing network capacity
Secure your application against various attack types while preserving performance	Early detection of low-rate attacks and precise threat detection with low false positive rate
Cut costs by eliminating the need for expensive web filtering and network hardware	Session blocking for enhanced security

In addition to this, our multilevel security system keeps a close eye on all incoming requests. If it sees that a lot of requests are coming from the same IP address for a specific URL, it will flag it and block the session. Our system is smart enough to know what’s normal and what’s not. It can detect any excessive requests and respond automatically. This helps us ensure that only legitimate traffic is allowed to pass through to your website, while blocking any volumetric attacks that may come your way.

Conclusion

Bot management is crucial when it comes to websites and applications. As we discussed in this article, there are two types of bots—good bots and bad bots. Good bots bring in valuable traffic, while bad bots can cause harm and create security threats. That’s why it’s important to have proper bot management in place. By managing the different bots that access your website or application, you can keep your business safe from spam and fraud, protect your customers’ privacy and security, and make sure everyone has a good experience on your website. And by being proactive about bot management, you’ll be taking steps to keep your online presence secure and trustworthy.

Alongside utilizing the bot management strategies we’ve outlined today, Gcore adds an additional layer by offering comprehensive protection against bad bots and other types of attacks, allowing website owners to effectively manage the impact of attacks and ensure the smooth operation of their website or application. This allows businesses and individuals running websites to confidently protect their online assets and ensure their networks are secure.

Keep your website or application secure from malicious bots with Gcore’s web application security solutions. Utilizing advanced technology and staying up-to-date with the latest threats, Gcore offers peace of mind for businesses seeking top-notch security. Connect with our experts to learn more.

From reactive to proactive: how AI is transforming WAF cybersecurity solutions

While digital transformation in recent years has driven great innovation, cyber threats have changed in parallel, evolving to target the very applications businesses rely on to thrive. Traditional web application security measures, foundational as they may be, are no longer effective in combating sophisticated attacks in time. Enter the next generation of WAFs (web application firewalls) powered by artificial intelligence.Next-generation WAFs, often incorporated into WAAP solutions, do much more than respond to threats; instead, they will use AI and ML-powered techniques to predict and neutralize threats in real time. This helps businesses to stay ahead of bad actors by securing applications, keeping valuable data safe, and protecting hard-earned brand reputations against ever-present dangers in an expanding digital world.From static to AI-powered web application firewallsTraditional WAFs were relied on to protect web applications against known threats, such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting. They’ve done a great job as the first line of defense, but their reliance on static rules and signature-based detection means they struggle to keep up with today’s fast-evolving cyber threats. To understand in depth why traditional WAFs are no longer sufficient in today’s threat landscape, read our ebook.AI and ML have already revolutionized what a WAF can do. AI/ML-driven WAFs can examine vast streams of traffic data and detect patterns, including new threats, right at the emergence stage. The real-time adaptability that this allows is effective even against zero-day attacks and complex new hacking techniques.How AI-powered WAP proactively stops threatsOne of the most significant advantages of AI/ML-powered WAFs is proactive identification and prevention capabilities. Here's how this works:Traffic pattern analysis: AI systems monitor both incoming and outgoing traffic to set up baselines for normal behavior. This can then allow for the detection of anomalies that could show a zero-day attack or malicious activity.Real-time decision making: Machine learning models keep learning from live traffic and detect suspicious activities on the go sans waiting for any updates in the rule set. This proactive approach ensures that businesses are guarded from emerging threats before they escalate.Heuristic tagging and behavioral insights: Advanced heuristics used by AI-driven systems tag everything from sessionless clients to unusual request frequencies. It helps administrators classify potential bots or automated attacks much faster.Ability to counter zero-day attacks: Traditional WAF solutions can only mitigate attacks that are already in the process of accessing sensitive areas. AI/ML-powered WAFs, on the other hand, can use data to identify and detect patterns indicative of future attacks, stopping attackers in their tracks and preventing future damage.Intelligent policy management: Adaptive WAFs detect suspicious activity and alert users to misconfigured security policies accordingly. They reduce the need for manual configuration while assuring better protection.Integrated defense layers: One of the strongest features of AI/ML-powered systems is the ease with which they integrate other layers of security, including bot protection and DDoS mitigation, into a connected architecture that protects several attack surfaces.User experience and operational impactAI-driven WAFs improve the day-to-day operations of security teams by transforming how they approach threat management. With intuitive dashboards and clearly presented analytics, as offered by Gcore WAAP, these tools empower security professionals to quickly interpret complex data, streamline decision-making, and respond proactively to threats.Instead of manually analyzing vast amounts of traffic data, teams now receive immediate alerts highlighting critical security events, such as abnormal IP behaviors or unusual session activity. Each alert includes actionable recommendations, enabling rapid adjustments to security policies without guesswork or delay.By automating the identification of sophisticated threats such as credential stuffing, scraping, and DDoS attacks, AI-powered solutions significantly reduce manual workloads. Advanced behavioral profiling and heuristic tagging pinpoint genuine threats with high accuracy, allowing security teams to concentrate their efforts where they're most needed.Embracing intelligent security with Gcore’s AI-driven WAAPOur AI-powered WAAP solution provides intelligent, interrelated protection to empower companies to actively outperform even the most sophisticated, ever-changing threats by applying advanced traffic analysis, heuristic tagging, and adaptive learning. With its cross-domain functionality and actionable security insights, this solution stands out as an invaluable tool for both security architects and strategic decision-makers. It combines innovation and practicality to address the needs of modern businesses.Curious to learn more about WAAP? Check out our ebook for cybersecurity best practices, the most common threats to look out for, and how WAAP can safeguard your businesses’ digital assets. Or, get in touch with our team to learn more about Gcore WAAP.Learn why WAAP is essential for modern businesses with a free ebook

How AI helps prevent API attacks

APIs have become an integral part of modern digital infrastructure, and it can be easy to take their security for granted. But, unfortunately, APIs are a popular target for attackers. Hackers can use APIs to access crucial data and services, and breaching APIs allows attackers to bypass traditional security controls.Most companies focus on speed of development and deployment ahead of security when crafting APIs, making them vulnerable to issues like insecure authentication, poor validation, or misconfigured endpoints, which attackers can abuse. Additionally, the interconnected nature of APIs creates multiple endpoints, widening the attack surface and creating additional points of entry that attackers can exploit.As threats evolve and the attack surface grows to include more API endpoints, integrating AI threat detection and mitigation is an absolute must for businesses to take serious, deliberate action against API cyberattacks. Let’s find out why.Staying ahead of zero-day API attacksOf all the cyber attacks that commonly threaten APIs, zero-day attacks, leveraging unknown vulnerabilities, are probably the toughest to defeat. Traditional solutions rely more on the existence of preconfigured rules or signatures along with human interference to detect and block such attacks. This approach often fails against novel threats and can block legitimate traffic, leaving applications vulnerable and making APIs inaccessible to users.APIs must balance between allowing legitimate users access and maintaining security. AI and ML technologies excel at identifying zero-day attacks based on pattern and behavior analysis rather than known signatures. For instance, heuristic algorithms can detect anomalies, such as sudden spikes in unusual traffic or behaviors indicative of malicious intent.Consider the following example: A certain IP address makes an abnormally large number of requests to a rarely accessed endpoint. Even without prior knowledge of the IP or attack vector, an AI/ML-enhanced solution can flag the activity as suspicious and block it proactively. Using minimal indicators, such as frequency patterns or traffic anomalies, AI can stop attackers before they fully exploit vulnerabilities. Additionally, this means that only suspicious IPs are blocked, and legitimate users can continue to access APIs unimpeded.The risks of shadow APIsOne of the biggest risks is shadow APIs, which are endpoints that exist but aren't documented or monitored. These can arise from configuration mistakes, forgotten updates, or even rogue development practices. These unknown APIs are the ideal target for Layer 7 attacks, as they are often left undefended, making them easy targets.AI-powered API discovery tools map both known and unknown API endpoints, enabling the grouping and management of these endpoints so sensitive APIs can be properly secured. This level of visibility is critical to securing systems against API-targeting attacks; without it, businesses are left in the dark.API discovery as a critical security practiceWAAP with AI/ML capabilities excels in API security because it accurately checks and analyzes API traffic. The Gcore API discovery engine offers 97 to 99 percent accuracy, mapping APIs in users’ domains and using data to recommend policies to help secure APIs.How heuristics enhance WAAP AI capabilities to protect APIsWhile AI and ML form the backbone of modern WAAPs, heuristic methods complement them in enhancing detection accuracy. Heuristics allow the system to inspect granular behaviors, such as mouse clicks or scrolling patterns, which distinguish legitimate users from bots.For example, most scraping attacks involve automated scripts that interact with APIs in predictable and repetitive manners. In those cases, WAAP can use request patterns or user action monitoring to identify the script with high accuracy. Heuristics may define bots by checking how users interact with page elements, such as buttons or forms, and flagging those that behave unnaturally.This layered approach ensures that the most sophisticated automated attack attempts are caught in the net and mitigated without affecting legitimate traffic.Protect your APIs with the click of a button using Gcore WAAPAI offers proactive, intelligent solutions that can address the modern complexities of cybersecurity. These technologies empower organizations to secure APIs against even the most sophisticated threats, including zero-day vulnerabilities and undiscovered APIs.Interested in protecting your APIs with WAAP? Download our ebook to discover cybersecurity best practices, the most prevalent threats, and how WAAP can protect your business’s digital infrastructure, including APIs. Or, reach out to our team to learn more about Gcore WAAP.Discover why WAAP is a must-have for API protection

11 simple tips for securing your APIs

A vast 84% of organizations have experienced API security incidents in the past year. APIs (application programming interfaces) are the backbone of modern technology, allowing seamless interaction between diverse software platforms. However, this increased connectivity comes with a downside: a higher risk of security breaches, which can include injection attacks, credential stuffing, and L7 DDoS attacks, as well as the ever-growing threat of AI-based attacks.Fortunately, developers and IT teams can implement DIY API protection. Mitigating vulnerabilities involves using secure coding techniques, conducting thorough testing, and applying strong security protocols and frameworks. Alternatively, you can simply use a WAAP (web application and API protection) solution for specialized, one-click, robust API protection.This article explains 11 practical tips that can help protect your APIs from security threats and hacking attempts, with examples of commands and sample outputs to provide API security.#1 Implement authentication and authorizationUse robust authentication mechanisms to verify user identity and authorization strategies like OAuth 2.0 to manage access to resources. Using OAuth 2.0, you can set up a token-based authentication system where clients request access tokens using credentials. # Requesting an access token curl -X POST https://yourapi.com/oauth/token \ -d "grant_type=client_credentials" \ -d "client_id=your_client_id" \ -d "client_secret=your_client_secret" Sample output: { "access_token": "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9...", "token_type": "bearer", "expires_in": 3600 } #2 Secure communication with HTTPSEncrypting data in transit using HTTPS can help prevent eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks. Enabling HTTPS may involve configuring your web server with SSL/TLS certificates, such as Let’s Encrypt with nginx. sudo certbot --nginx -d yourapi.com #3 Validate and sanitize inputValidating and sanitizing all user inputs protects against injection and other attacks. For a Node.js API, use express-validator middleware to validate incoming data. app.post('/api/user', [ body('email').isEmail(), body('password').isLength({ min: 5 }) ], (req, res) => { const errors = validationResult(req); if (!errors.isEmpty()) { return res.status(400).json({ errors: errors.array() }); } // Proceed with user registration }); #4 Use rate limitingLimit the number of requests a client can make within a specified time frame to prevent abuse. The express-rate-limit library implements rate limiting in Express.js. const rateLimit = require('express-rate-limit'); const apiLimiter = rateLimit({ windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes max: 100 }); app.use('/api/', apiLimiter); #5 Undertake regular security auditsRegularly audit your API and its dependencies for vulnerabilities. Runnpm auditin your Node.js project to detect known vulnerabilities in your dependencies. npm audit Sample output: found 0 vulnerabilities in 1050 scanned packages #6 Implement access controlsImplement configurations so that users can only access resources they are authorized to view or edit, typically through roles or permissions. The two more common systems are Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) for a more granular approach.You might also consider applying zero-trust security measures such as the principle of least privilege (PoLP), which gives users the minimal permissions necessary to perform their tasks. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security beyond usernames and passwords.#7 Monitor and log activityMaintain comprehensive logs of API activity with a focus on both performance and security. By treating logging as a critical security measure—not just an operational tool—organizations can gain deeper visibility into potential threats, detect anomalies more effectively, and accelerate incident response.#8 Keep dependencies up-to-dateRegularly update all libraries, frameworks, and other dependencies to mitigate known vulnerabilities. For a Node.js project, updating all dependencies to their latest versions is vital. npm update #9 Secure API keysIf your API uses keys for access, we recommend that you make sure that they are securely stored and managed. Modern systems often utilize dynamic key generation techniques, leveraging algorithms to automatically produce unique and unpredictable keys. This approach enhances security by reducing the risk of brute-force attacks and improving efficiency.#10 Conduct penetration testingRegularly test your API with penetration testing to identify and fix security vulnerabilities. By simulating real-world attack scenarios, your organizations can systematically identify vulnerabilities within various API components. This proactive approach enables the timely mitigation of security risks, reducing the likelihood of discovering such issues through post-incident reports and enhancing overall cybersecurity resilience.#11 Simply implement WAAPIn addition to taking the above steps to secure your APIs, a WAAP (web application and API protection) solution can defend your system against known and unknown threats by consistently monitoring, detecting, and mitigating risks. With advanced algorithms and machine learning, WAAP safeguards your system from attacks like SQL injection, DDoS, and bot traffic, which can compromise the integrity of your APIs.Take your API protection to the next levelThese steps will help protect your APIs against common threats—but security is never one-and-done. Regular reviews and updates are essential to stay ahead of evolving vulnerabilities. To keep on top of the latest trends, we encourage you to read more of our top cybersecurity tips or download our ultimate guide to WAAP.Implementing specialized cybersecurity solutions such as WAAP, which combines web application firewall (WAF), bot management, Layer 7 DDoS protection, and API security, is the best way to protect your assets. Designed to tackle the complex challenges of API threats in the age of AI, Gcore WAAP is an advanced solution that keeps you ahead of security threats.Discover why WAAP is a non-negotiable with our free ebook

What are zero-day attacks? Risks, prevention tips, and new trends

Zero-day attack is a term for any attack that targets a vulnerability in software or hardware that has yet to be discovered by the vendor or developer. The term “zero-day” stems from the idea that the developer has had zero days to address or patch the vulnerability before it is exploited.In a zero-day attack, an attacker finds a vulnerability before a developer discovers and patches itThe danger of zero-day attacks lies in their unknownness. Because the vulnerabilities they target are undiscovered, traditional defense mechanisms or firewalls may not detect them as no specific patch exists, making attack success rates higher than for known attack types. This makes proactive and innovative security measures, like AI-enabled WAAP, crucial for organizations to stay secure.Why are zero-day attacks a threat to businesses?Zero-day attacks pose a unique challenge for businesses due to their unpredictable nature. Since these exploits take advantage of previously unknown vulnerabilities, organizations have no warning or time to deploy a patch before they are targeted. This makes zero-day attacks exceptionally difficult to detect and mitigate, leaving businesses vulnerable to potentially severe consequences. As a result, zero-day attacks can have devastating consequences for organizations of all sizes. They pose financial, reputational, and regulatory risks that can be difficult to recover from, including the following:Financial and operational damage: Ransomware attacks leveraging zero-day vulnerabilities can cripple operations and lead to significant financial losses due to data breach fines. According to recent studies, the average cost of a data breach in 2025 has surpassed $5 million, with zero-day exploits contributing significantly to these figures.Reputation and trust erosion: Beyond monetary losses, zero-day attacks erode customer trust. A single breach can damage an organization’s reputation, leading to customer churn and lost opportunities.Regulatory implications: With strict regulations like GDPR in the EU and similar frameworks emerging globally, organizations face hefty fines for data breaches. Zero-day vulnerabilities, though difficult to predict, do not exempt businesses from compliance obligations.The threat is made clear by recent successful examples of zero-day attacks. The Log4j vulnerability (Log4Shell), discovered in 2021, affected millions of applications worldwide and was widely exploited. In 2023, the MOVEit Transfer exploit was used to compromise data from numerous government and corporate systems. These incidents demonstrate how zero-day attacks can have far-reaching consequences across different industries.New trends in zero-day attacksAs cybercriminals become more sophisticated, zero-day attacks continue to evolve. New methods and technologies are making it easier for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities before they are discovered. The latest trends in zero-day attacks include AI-powered attacks, expanding attack surfaces, and sophisticated multi-vendor attacks.AI-powered attacksAttackers are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to identify and exploit vulnerabilities faster than ever before. AI tools can analyze vast amounts of code and detect potential weaknesses in a fraction of the time it would take a human. Moreover, AI can automate the creation of malware, making attacks more frequent and harder to counter.For example, AI-driven malware can adapt in real time to avoid detection, making it particularly effective in targeting enterprise networks and cloud-based applications. Hypothetically, an attacker could use an AI algorithm to scan for weaknesses in widely used SaaS applications, launching an exploit before a patch is even possible.Expanding attack surfacesThe digital transformation continues to expand the attack surface for zero-day exploits. APIs, IoT devices, and cloud-based services are increasingly targeted, as they often rely on interconnected systems with complex dependencies. A single unpatched vulnerability in an API could provide attackers with access to critical data or applications.Sophisticated multi-vector attacksCybercriminals are combining zero-day exploits with other tactics, such as phishing or social engineering, to create multi-vector attacks. This approach increases the likelihood of success and makes defense efforts more challenging.Prevent zero-day attacks with AI-powered WAAPWAAP solutions are becoming a cornerstone of modern cybersecurity, particularly in addressing zero-day vulnerabilities. Here’s how they help:Behavioral analytics: WAAP solutions use behavioral models to detect unusual traffic patterns, blocking potential exploits before they can cause damage.Automated patching: By shielding applications with virtual patches, WAAP can provide immediate protection against vulnerabilities while a permanent fix is developed.API security: With APIs increasingly targeted, WAAP’s ability to secure API endpoints is critical. It ensures that only authorized requests are processed, reducing the risk of exploitation.How WAAP stops AI-driven zero-day attacksAI is not just a tool for attackers—it is also a powerful ally for defenders. Machine learning algorithms can analyze user behavior and network activity to identify anomalies in real time. These systems can detect and block suspicious activities that might indicate an attempted zero-day exploit.Threat intelligence platforms powered by AI can also predict emerging vulnerabilities by analyzing trends and known exploits. This enables organizations to prepare for potential attacks before they occur.At Gcore, our WAAP solution combines these features to provide comprehensive protection. By leveraging cutting-edge AI and machine learning, Gcore WAAP detects and mitigates threats in real time, keeping web applications and APIs secure even from zero-day attacks.More prevention techniquesBeyond WAAP, layering protection techniques can further enhance your business’ ability to ward off zero-day attacks. Consider the following measures:Implement a robust patch management system so that known vulnerabilities are addressed promptly.Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing to help identify potential weaknesses before attackers can exploit them.Educate employees about phishing and other social engineering tactics to decease the likelihood of successful attacks.Protect your business against zero-day attacks with GcoreZero-day attacks pose a significant threat to businesses, with financial, reputational, and regulatory consequences. The rise of AI-powered cyberattacks and expanding digital attack surfaces make these threats even more pressing. Organizations must adopt proactive security measures, including AI-driven defense mechanisms like WAAP, to protect their critical applications and data. By leveraging behavioral analytics, automated patching, and advanced threat intelligence, businesses can minimize their risk and stay ahead of attackers.Gcore’s AI-powered WAAP provides the robust protection your business needs to defend against zero-day attacks. With real-time threat detection, virtual patching, and API security, Gcore WAAP ensures that your web applications remain protected against even the most advanced cyber threats, including zero-day threats. Don’t wait until it’s too late—secure your business today with Gcore’s cutting-edge security solutions.Discover how WAAP can help stop zero-day attacks

Why do bad actors carry out Minecraft DDoS attacks?

One of the most played video games in the world, Minecraft, relies on servers that are frequently a target of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. But why would malicious actors target Minecraft servers? In this article, we’ll look at why these servers are so prone to DDoS attacks and uncover the impact such attacks have on the gaming community and broader cybersecurity landscape. For a comprehensive analysis and expert tips, read our ultimate guide to preventing DDoS attacks on Minecraft servers.Disruption for financial gainFinancial exploitation is a typical motivator for DDoS attacks in Minecraft. Cybercriminals frequently demand ransom to stop their attacks. Server owners, especially those with lucrative private or public servers, may feel pressured to pay to restore normalcy. In some cases, bad actors intentionally disrupt competitors to draw players to their own servers, leveraging downtime for monetary advantage.Services that offer DDoS attacks for hire make these attacks more accessible and widespread. These malicious services target Minecraft servers because the game is so popular, making it an attractive and easy option for attackers.Player and server rivalriesRivalries within the Minecraft ecosystem often escalate to DDoS attacks, driven by competition among players, servers, hosts, and businesses. Players may target opponents during tournaments to disrupt their gaming experience, hoping to secure prize money for themselves. Similarly, players on one server may initiate attacks to draw members to their server and harm the reputation of other servers. Beyond individual players, server hosts also engage in DDoS attacks to disrupt and induce outages for their rivals, subsequently attempting to poach their customers. On a bigger scale, local pirate servers may target gaming service providers entering new markets to harm their brand and hold onto market share. These rivalries highlight the competitive and occasionally antagonistic character of the Minecraft community, where the stakes frequently surpass in-game achievements.Personal vendettas and retaliationPersonal conflicts can occasionally be the source of DDoS attacks in Minecraft. In these situations, servers are targeted in retribution by individual gamers or disgruntled former employees. These attacks are frequently the result of complaints about unsolved conflicts, bans, or disagreements over in-game behavior. Retaliation-driven DDoS events can cause significant disruption, although lower in scope than attacks with financial motivations.Displaying technical masterySome attackers carry out DDoS attacks to showcase their abilities. Minecraft is a perfect testing ground because of its large player base and community-driven server infrastructure. Successful strikes that demonstrate their skills enhance reputations within some underground communities. Instead of being a means to an end, the act itself becomes a badge of honor for those involved.HacktivismHacktivists—people who employ hacking as a form of protest—occasionally target Minecraft servers to further their political or social goals. These attacks are meant to raise awareness of a subject rather than be driven by personal grievances or material gain. To promote their message, they might, for instance, assault servers that are thought to support unfair policies or practices. This would be an example of digital activism. Even though they are less frequent, these instances highlight the various reasons why DDoS attacks occur.Data theftMinecraft servers often hold significant user data, including email addresses, usernames, and sometimes even payment information. Malicious actors sometimes launch DDoS attacks as a smokescreen to divert server administrators’ attention from their attempts to breach the server and steal confidential information. This dual-purpose approach disrupts gameplay and poses significant risks to user privacy and security, making data theft one of the more insidious motives behind such attacks.Securing the Minecraft ecosystemDDoS attacks against Minecraft are motivated by various factors, including personal grudges, data theft, and financial gain. Every attack reveals wider cybersecurity threats, interferes with gameplay, and damages community trust. Understanding these motivations can help server owners take informed steps to secure their servers, but often, investing in reliable DDoS protection is the simplest and most effective way to guarantee that Minecraft remains a safe and enjoyable experience for players worldwide. By addressing the root causes and improving server resilience, stakeholders can mitigate the impact of such attacks and protect the integrity of the game.Gcore offers robust, multi-layered security solutions designed to shield gaming communities from the ever-growing threat of DDoS attacks. Founded by gamers for gamers, Gcore understands the industry’s unique challenges. Our tools enable smooth gameplay and peace of mind for both server owners and players.Want an in-depth look at how to secure your Minecraft servers?Download our ultimate guide

What is a DDoS attack?

A DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack is a type of cyberattack in which a hacker overwhelms a server with an excessive number of requests, causing the server to stop functioning properly. This can cause the website, app, game, or other online service to become slow, unresponsive, or completely unavailable. DDoS attacks can result in lost customers and revenue for the victim. DDoS attacks are becoming increasingly common, with a 46% increase in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.How do DDoS attacks work?DDoS attacks work by overwhelming and flooding a company’s resources so that legitimate users cannot get through. The attacker creates huge amounts of malicious traffic by creating a botnet, a collection of compromised devices that work together to carry out the attack without the device owners’ knowledge. The attacker, referred to as the botmaster, sends instructions to the botnet in order to implement the attack. The attacker forces these bots to send an enormous amount of internet traffic to a victim’s resource. As a result, the server can’t process real users trying to access the website or app. This causes customer dissatisfaction and frustration, lost revenue, and reputational damage for companies.Think of it this way: Imagine a vast call center. Someone dials the number but gets a busy tone. This is because a single spammer has made thousands of automated calls from different phones. The call center’s lines are overloaded, and the legitimate callers cannot get through.DDoS attacks work similarly, but online: The fraudster’s activity completely blocks the end users from reaching the website or online service.Different types of DDoS attacksThere are three categories of DDoS attacks, each attacking a different network communication layer. These layers come from the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model, the foundational framework for network communication that describes how different systems and devices connect and communicate. This model has seven layers. DDoS attacks seek to exploit vulnerabilities across three of them: L3, L4, and L7.While all three types of attacks have the same end goal, they differ in how they work and which online resources they target. L3 and L4 DDoS attacks target servers and infrastructure, while L7 attacks affect the app itself.Volumetric attacks (L3) overwhelm the network equipment, bandwidth, or server with a high volume of traffic.Connection protocol attacks (L4) target the resources of a network-based service, like website firewalls or server operating systems.Application layer attacks (L7) overwhelm the network layer, where the application operates with many malicious requests, which leads to application failure.1. Volumetric attacks (L3)L3, or volumetric, DDoS attacks are the most common form of DDoS attack. They work by flooding internal networks with malicious traffic, aiming to exhaust bandwidth and disrupt the connection between the target network or service and the internet. By exploiting key communication protocols, attackers send massive amounts of traffic, often with spoofed IP addresses, to overwhelm the victim’s network. As the network equipment strains to process this influx of data, legitimate requests are delayed or dropped, leading to service degradation or even complete network failure.2. Connection protocol attacks (L4)Protocol attacks occur when attackers send connection requests from multiple IP addresses to target server open ports. One common tactic is a SYN flood, where attackers initiate connections without completing them. This forces the server to allocate resources to these unfinished sessions, quickly leading to resource exhaustion. As these fake requests consume the server’s CPU and memory, legitimate traffic is unable to get through. Firewalls and load balancers managing incoming traffic can also be overwhelmed, resulting in service outages.3. Application layer attacks (L7)Application layer attacks strike at the L7 layer, where applications operate. Web applications handle everything from simple static websites to complex platforms like e-commerce sites, social media networks, and SaaS solutions. In an L7 attack, a hacker deploys multiple bots or machines to repeatedly request the same resource until the server becomes overwhelmed.By mimicking genuine user behavior, attackers flood the web application with seemingly legitimate requests, often at high rates. For example, they might repeatedly submit incorrect login credentials or overload the search function by continuously searching for products. As the server consumes its resources managing these fake requests, genuine users experience slow response times or may be completely denied access to the application.How can DDoS attacks be prevented?To stay one step ahead of attackers, use a DDoS protection solution to protect your web resources. A mitigation solution detects and blocks harmful DDoS traffic sent by attackers, keeping your servers and applications safe and functional. If an attacker targets your server, your legitimate users won’t notice any change—even during a considerable attack—because the protection solution will allow safe traffic while identifying and blocking malicious requests.DDoS protection providers also give you reports on attempted DDoS attacks. This way, you can track when the attack happened, as well as the size and scale of the attack. This enables you to respond effectively, analyze the potential implications of the attack, and implement risk management strategies to mitigate future disruptions.Repel DDoS attacks with GcoreAt Gcore, we offer robust and proven security solutions to protect your business from DDoS attacks. Gcore DDoS Protection provides comprehensive mitigation at L3, L4, and L7 for websites, apps, and servers. We also offer L7 protection as part of Gcore WAAP, which keeps your web apps and APIs secure against a range of modern threats using AI-enabled threat detection.Take a look at our recent Radar report to learn more about the latest DDoS attack trends and the changing strategies and patterns of cyberattacks.Read our DDoS Attack Trends Radar report