Edge computing vs bots — mitigating attacks with edge functions
In our increasingly digital world, businesses face challenges from an evolving threat landscape. Bots, both good and malicious, have become significant players in this arena. Let’s delve into how edge computing, especially edge functions, shapes the battle against these digital entities.
The digital landscape & bots
Bots have been part of the internet’s environment for years. Their presence has fluctuated, with bot traffic accounting for 45.6% of all internet traffic in 2015, dropping to 37.2% in 2019, and then bouncing back to 47.4% in 2022 — marking a 5.1% increase from the previous year. Predictions indicate that by 2023, bots will constitute 54% of all internet traffic.
While some bots, like search engine crawlers, are beneficial and makeup approximately 17.3% of this traffic, a significant portion, over 30%, are malicious, aiming to exploit vulnerabilities in web applications. Advancements in artificial intelligence(AI) have made it even harder to detect malicious bots, as some of them can now express human behavior, evading traditional security measures. This elevates the importance of enhancing security using a bot protection solution.
These bots can be categorized into “good bots” and “bad bots”. Good bots include search engine crawlers and social media bots. In contrast, bad bots encompass spam bots, credential-filling bots, and DDoS bots, which are responsible for malicious activities ranging from cyberattacks to fraud.
The global bot protection market is expected to grow from $1.25 billion in 2022 to $2.8 billion by 2027
Why bot protection matters
A security breach’s repercussions transcend the immediate data loss. It has the potential to significantly diminish brand trust and customer loyalty, underscoring the importance of robust bot protection.
Conventional defense strategies frequently prove inadequate in the face of escalating cyber threat sophistication. Furthermore, bots can generate extra costs for companies as they consume traffic on infrastructure’s company. One of the known attacks to generate more cost is the Denial of Wallet, which strategically overloads applications, forcing the targeted company to incur operational charges.
In an era where digital interactions form the cornerstone of customer experience, safeguarding the integrity and confidentiality of user data is paramount. Bot protection safeguards online services from malicious automated attacks, ensuring a secure and seamless operation of sensitive information.
As cyber adversaries continually refine their tactics, investing in advanced bot protection measures is not merely a prudent decision — it’s a fundamental step toward fostering a trustworthy digital ecosystem.
For developers, the good news is that including Edge Bot Protection in many cases won’t require any application changes.
Edge functions to the rescue
Drawing from the expertise of companies like Azion, which are at the forefront of edge solutions, Edge Functions emerge as a potent tool for real-time threat neutralization. These functions offer enhanced responsiveness and uphold security by processing data closer to its origin.
The edge can be considered the security perimeter of applications, where all requests are intercepted, providing robust protection through Edge Firewall, WAF (Web Application Firewall), fault tolerance, and cloud offload. These features underscore the benefits of utilizing edge for protection, forming an effective shield against many attacks, including Denial of Wallet, as we have shown above.
Shifting focus back to edge functions, the ability to process and filter malicious requests close to the source stands out as a valuable solution to mitigate such threats and ensure the operational and financial integrity of cloud-based applications.
Edge functions introduce a revolutionary era, enabling developers to architect functions that run at the edge, transforming real-time responses and security from aspirations to tangible realities in the digital domain.
Diving into use cases
Take, for instance, an e-commerce platform amid the immense activity of Black Friday sales. The combination of a traffic surge and potential bot attacks can be quite overwhelming. This is not confined to retail alone; the banking sector, where transaction security is a key requirement, can significantly benefit from edge functions as well, providing real-time validations, and thereby augmenting the overall security framework.
The beauty of this setup lies in the edge function’s capability to host bot protection solutions. Without the need for extensive rule development, organizations can leverage pre-built bot protection solutions that operate at the edge, scrutinizing traffic even before it reaches the application.
This optimizes security and curtails implementation costs, as deploying on an edge computing platform tends to be highly cost-effective. Such a proactive approach to preventing bot incursions is instrumental in fostering a secure and reliable digital environment, setting a robust foundation for user trust and business continuity.
Challenges and strategies for overcoming them
Every technological solution accompanies its set of challenges. Implementing edge functions, for instance, necessitates strategic approaches to manage vast data volumes, ensure timely system updates, and maintain operational efficacy.
By tapping into the expertise of seasoned edge companies, businesses can carve out robust strategies to effectively circumvent these hurdles.
Unveiling broader benefits and Azion' solution
While fortifying security is a pivotal advantage, edge functions stretch beyond to offer a spectrum of benefits, including reduced latency, scalability to weather traffic surges, and cost efficiencies over time.
The Azion Bot Protection Edge Function emerges as a potent solution in this situation. Available on Azion’s Marketplace, this serverless solution scrutinizes incoming requests using an edge function orchestrated at the edge firewall, assigning a score based on predefined rules and behaviors.
Should the score surpass a specified threshold, the request is either declined or canceled, serving as a robust shield against malicious endeavors like credential stuffing, vulnerability scanning, and site scraping.
Utilizing advanced algorithms to analyze the behavior of the received data, coupled with the Reputation Intelligence algorithm, it profiles each visitor to the site, encompassing aspects like location, device type, and browsing patterns. Some of the best bot solutions are also using device fingerprinting to create sessions and work with machine learning to understand the user’s behavior in order to improve accuracy.
This granular analysis facilitates instantaneous identification of suspicious behaviors, enabling defensive actions against potential aggressions.
Through such sophisticated analysis and real-time responses, Azion’ solution elevates security and significantly enhances user experience and operational efficiency, portraying the multifaceted advantages of employing edge functions.
Concluding thoughts
The digital domain is abundant with challenges, but promising solutions like edge functions can combat bot attacks. Staying updated with such advancements is crucial for businesses.
Azion Bot Protection, running on our Edge Functions, exemplifies a robust solution against malicious bots. Discover more about its capabilities and kickstart your development journey at no initial cost with our developer plan, including a $300 credit.
Explore Azion Bot Protection now.
References & further exploration
For deeper insights into the topics discussed, consider:
Report: 47 Percent of Internet Traffic is From Bots
What Percentage of Internet Traffic is Bots in 2023
Must Know Internet Traffic of Bots Statistics (2023 Data)
39% of all internet traffic is from bad bots
