VOA科学技术2014--Report: Bots Make up Nearly Half of Worldwide Internet Traffic

A report by a cybersecurity company suggests that nearly half of the world's internet traffic is now produced by computer systems called bots.

A bot is a software program that often works by itself on the internet to perform the same kinds of actions as humans do.

The report, produced by California-based internet security company Imperva, found that 49.6 percent of worldwide internet traffic came from bots in 2023. That is the highest level reported since the company started examining bot traffic levels in 2013. Traffic from human users fell to 50.4 percent.

Imperva's study also found that web traffic linked to "bad bots" grew to 32 percent in 2023, a rise of 30.2 percent from 2022.

Nanhi Singh heads application security at Imperva. She said in a statement that bots are currently¹ "one of the most pervasive² and growing threats facing every industry."

Bots are generally designed to visit websites and independently search for many kinds of online information. They are able to operate at much greater speeds than humans and can process repeated searches and process large amounts of data.

Online search advisor³ Yoast notes that some bots are considered good because they are built to carry out legal, productive⁴ activities for businesses.

Bots can also be useful to individuals through tools such as OpenAI's chatbot, ChatGPT. A chatbot also operates online independently but can assist humans with searching, writing, or processing large amounts of data in a short period. ChatGPT and similar tools are known as generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Other bots are considered malicious⁵, or bad, because they are trained to hack⁶, or break into, network computer systems. These kinds of bots present themselves as humans and collect private data or financial information that can be used to commit crimes. And some bots are designed to spread misinformation and false news.

Some bots, called "scrapers," visit web pages and scrape, or capture, all the data on the website they can find. Another kind is known as a spam bot, which is designed to overload⁷ a website or social media service with messages or emails.

Imperva's latest report noted⁸ that an increase in generative AI systems across the world resulted in the number of "simple bots" increasing about six percent to 39.6 percent in 2023.

Much of this increase was linked to active AI training systems on the internet known as large language models. Such systems collect huge amounts of online data to train AI systems like ChatGPT.

The study suggested some countries have a much bigger problem with bad bots than others. Web traffic linked to malicious bots in 2023 was highest in Ireland, at 71 percent, the researchers found. Germany was next, with 67.5 percent. Mexico had the next highest at 42.8 percent. In the United States, bad bot traffic was reported to be 35.4 percent, up more than 3 percent from 2022.

Imperva reported that account takeovers - one of the most severe results of bad bot activity - increased 10 percent in 2023 over 2022. Of all login attempts across the internet, 11 percent were linked with account takeovers, the company said.

The highest number of account takeovers - 36.8 percent - happened in the financial services industry. Next was the travel industry, with 11.5 percent, followed by business services at eight percent.

Imperva's Singh said the problem is likely to worsen in coming years to the point where such bots could become "omnipresent." She urged organizations to "proactively" introduce bot management and security tools in an effort to limit automated⁹ traffic and prevent dangerous account takeovers.

Words in This Story

application - n. a computer program designed for a particular purpose

pervasive - adj. influencing a large area

omnipresent - adj. present or having an effect everywhere at the same time

proactive - adj. taking action in advance to cause change

1 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

2 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

3 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

4 productive   

adj.能生产的，有生产价值的，多产的

参考例句：

• We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议，解决了一些问题。
• Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。

5 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

6 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

7 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。