Imperva warns that organisations must be aware of and protect against increasingly prevalent AI-generated cyber threats and bots (software applications that perform repetitive tasks over a network).
Imperva's recent Bad Bot Report found that simple bad bots accounted for 39.6% of bad bot traffic in 2023, increasing from 33.4% in 2022 and 26.3% five years ago.
AI-powered attacks
Imperva warns that malicious actors can use artificial intelligence (AI) to create cyber threats, bots, and automation attacks. The finance services sector has the second-highest proportion (79.61%) of advanced bot traffic in APAC.
"AI has become a vital tool for cybercriminals, who use it in various nefarious ways. One significant factor is the accessibility of open-source AI, which cybercriminals can adapt without safety guardrails and restrictions. This allows them to generate boundless harmful results from the misuse of the technology," said Reinhart Hansen, director of Technology at Imperva.
Protecting digital presence and customer data
To protect organisations' digital presence and valuable customer data, Imperva suggests defining and enacting a comprehensive application security strategy that protects data, pursuing a secure-by-design application development mindset, embracing a DevSecOps culture, and ensuring the operational application of protection controls like DDoS protection, advanced bot mitigation, web application firewall, and API security.
