Bot security

Bot security ensures that automated software agents (“bots”) operating on the internet or within an enterprise environment are identified, monitored, and protected from compromise or malicious use. Bots can range from simple web crawlers or chatbots to advanced RPA scripts that perform complex tasks. Securing bots involves authenticating them, limiting privileges, monitoring their activities, and detecting malicious bot impersonations.

How does it affect identity security?

Many organizations deploy bots with credentials to perform tasks at scale—like scraping websites, processing routine tasks, or assisting in customer service. 

Cloud-based bots often authenticate via API keys or OAuth tokens. Securing these requires rotating tokens, storing them in secret managers, and scoping them to minimal permissions. IAM can ensure each bot has a distinct identity with auditing. 

For example, a chatbot for Slack integration might only have permission to read certain channels, not system admin rights. Security teams also watch for malicious bots that attempt to brute-force or overload cloud apps. By combining IAM logs with application firewalls, organizations can detect suspicious bot traffic and block unauthorized bot usage.

If attackers hijack these bots or their credentials, they can run large-scale attacks (e.g., credential stuffing, spam). Properly managing bot identities (unique accounts, least privilege) and adding anti-abuse mechanisms (like rate limiting or challenge-response) guards against malicious or compromised bots. Additionally, attacker-controlled bots can flood login endpoints with stolen credentials, threatening identity security if not mitigated.

Case study

Scalper bots bought up event tickets in milliseconds, reselling them at inflated prices. The onslaught also risked exposing user info. Ticketmaster enhanced its identity checks and CAPTCHAs to curb bot-driven abuse.

‍