Bot attack

Automated scripts hitting your signup or login at scale.

Instead of real people typing and clicking, software sends thousands of requests, such as account signups or login attempts, in a short time.

High-volume programmatic requests against authentication or enrollment endpoints. An endpoint is a specific address in an application, such as the login or signup page, that accepts requests.

Bot attacks come in several common forms:

• Credential stuffing, which tries leaked username and password pairs against login pages.
• Fake account creation, which mass-produces accounts for fraud or abuse.
• Card testing, which checks which stolen card numbers still work by trying small purchases.
• Scraping and abuse, which harvests data or exhausts limited offers.

Signs that traffic is automated include:

1. Volume or timing that no human could produce.
2. Many requests from the same device, network, or small set of addresses.
3. Signs of emulators or automation tools instead of real phones and browsers.
4. Uniform behavior, such as identical mouse paths or typing speed.

Bot attacks sit next to terms that are easy to mix up:

• Credential stuffing is a bot attack aimed at login pages.
• Device fingerprinting helps recognize the same device behind many requests.
• Emulator detection spots the simulated phones that bots often run on.