In a concerning revelation by the fraud control platform Arkose Labs, about 73% of internet traffic to websites and apps that was analyzed between January and September 2023 has been attributed to bots engaging in malicious activities. This revelation sparks discussions about the significant drain on valuable resources caused by such nefarious actions.
The third quarter of 2023 witnessed the dominance of five primary categories of bad bot activities, including account takeover, scraping, fake account creation, account management, and in-product abuse. This is similar to the second quarter, with the notable exception of in-product abuse stepping in for card testing.
Among the categories, SMS toll fraud experienced the highest quarter-over-quarter surge, escalating by a staggering 2,141% in the third quarter compared to the previous one2. Equally noteworthy was a 160% increase in attacks on customer support call centers during the same period. Scraping, which had the most significant spike from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2023 at 432%, highlights the dynamic nature of these malicious activities.
Arkose Labs reported a 291% increase in intelligent bot attacks from the first quarter to the second. This surge is linked to the utilization of sophisticated techniques, including machine learning and AI, that enable these bots to mimic human behavior with heightened adaptability. In instances where AI and technology fall short, cybercriminals resort to human-operated fraud farms to execute their attacks. Fraudulent operations are predominantly identified in Brazil, India, Russia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
The escalating trend in bad bot attacks suggests that cybercriminals find this mode of operation highly profitable. The integration of efficient AI is anticipated to aggravate the situation, raising concerns about the efficacy of current defense mechanisms. A few months back, we reported that Microsoft’s Bing Chat was recommending malware advertisements that sent users to malicious websites instead of filtering them out.
While the prevalence of malicious bots is a cause for concern, it’s crucial to acknowledge the existence of beneficial bots that contribute positively to the online ecosystem. Many serve useful functions such as website indexing for search engines, handling basic customer service tasks, and managing social media experiences.
Did you think hitting delete on your AI chatbot conversation actually makes it disappear? Georgia Tech researchers just proved that's not entirely true. They have built a forensic tool called ORISA that can dig deleted conversations from your phone and even rebuild them into a working chatbot session you can keep talking to.
How can ORISA bring deleted AI conversations back?
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.