As the travel industry recovers from the pandemic, it is increasingly being targeted by automated threats, with the industry facing nearly 21% of all bot attack requests last year, according to research from Imperva, a Thales company. In its 2024 Bad Bot, Imperva finds that bad bots accounted for 44.5% of the industry’s web traffic in 2023—a significant jump from 37.4% in 2022.
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The summer travel season and major European sporting events are expected to drive increased consumer demand for flights, accommodations and other travel-related services . As a result, Imperva warns that the industry could see an increase in bot activity. These bots target the industry through unauthorized scraping, seat spinning, account takeover and fraud.
Bots are software applications that perform automated tasks on the internet. Many of these tasks, from indexing websites for search engines to monitoring website performance, are legitimate, but a growing number are not.
Bad bots are involved in a variety of malicious activities, from denial-of-service attacks to transaction fraud. These automated threats can consume bandwidth, slow down servers , and disrupt business operations even when they aren't directly stealing sensitive data or conducting fraudulent transactions.
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The travel industry has long faced complex bot issues, as malicious actors can exploit the various ways in which business logic is used in travel apps. Here are some of the most common ways travel-related apps are targeted on a daily basis :
Fare scraping: The use of bots to gather information on pricing, inventory, discounted fares, and more.
Seat Spinning: The use of bots to repeatedly book and cancel airline seats or hotel rooms, creating a temporary backlog in inventory without making an actual purchase.
Account Takeover: The travel industry experienced the second highest volume of account takeover (ATO) attempts in 2023, with 11% of all ATO attacks targeting the industry and 17% of all ATO-related login requests.
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In the digital age, automated threats have become a significant concern for both individuals and organizations. These threats, which are created and spread through automated processes, can include a variety of malicious activities, such as automated phishing attacks, botnets, and malware distribution . Automated systems can exploit vulnerabilities with unprecedented speed and scale, making it difficult to maintain traditional security measures. As technology continues to evolve, so do these threats, requiring advanced and equally automated defense strategies to protect sensitive data and maintain cybersecurity .
Source: thehackernews
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