The 2024 Imperva Threat Research report has revealed that nearly half (49.6%) of all internet traffic originates from non-human sources, commonly referred to as bots, bolstering the claims of the ‘dead internet theory.’ The theory, which began circulating on 4chan in 2019, suggests that a vast majority of web traffic is auto-generated, and this is part of an intentional manipulation of human online activity.
Imperva’s report supports the first claim and additionally states that 32% of all web traffic is due to bad bot activities. While bots are often associated with fraudulent activities, data harvesting, and other harmful actions, they also carry out beneficial tasks. Technological advancement in AI has expanded their functionality beyond just being chat interfaces. Bots like Google’s web crawler help index websites, making them discoverable on search platforms. AI agents, characterized as bots, interact with websites to complete tasks that traditionally require human interaction.
However, the downside is that these AI advancements also empower bad bots. They can mimic human interactions, including mouse clicks and motions, thereby camouflishing themselves and bypassing security measures like CAPTCHA challenges.
Imperva’s report observes an upward trend in bad bot activities as AI and LLMs gain popularity, making it easier to generate these bots even for those who lack technical know-how. Consequently, simple bad bots accounted for 39.6% of all bad bot traffic in 2023, a significant increase from 33.4% in 2022 and 26.3% five years prior. APIs, utilized widely by businesses to power various AI models and solutions, are being increasingly targeted for exploitation by bad bots.
Behind these bad bots are human actors seeking to manipulate and exploit other humans. While the ‘dead internet theory’ may still be considered a conspiracy theory by some, there emerges a new reality where the volume of automated content is set to outpace that created by humans, spurred by AI technologies. This trend is visible in areas like AI-generated music, AI social media accounts, AI influencers, and YouTube videos. This evolving dynamics, characterized by the expansion of AI-fueled reality, necessitates vigilance and containment strategies to counter increasingly sophisticated bots.
