In the current digital landscape, enterprises face escalating challenges due to the widespread use of automated bots. These bots, ranging from simple scripts to advanced malicious programs, are employed in activities such as credential stuffing, data scraping, and orchestrated botnet attacks. Such malicious activities not only compromise sensitive data but also strain system resources, leading to degraded performance and potential service outages. To safeguard their digital assets and ensure the integrity of user interactions, organizations must implement robust security measures to detect and mitigate bot-related threats.
As security defences become stronger, malicious actors continuously adapt their tactics and use increasingly sophisticated methods to evade detection. This growing complexity demands significant effort, attackers must invest more effort to breach robust systems, while defenders must work harder to accurately identify malicious activity. Attackers often deploy automated bots designed to closely mimic the behaviour of real users, making it difficult for defenders to distinguish legitimate traffic from malicious activities.
In addition to the growing challenge of distinguishing genuine users from those simulating legitimate behaviour, security defenders must also navigate the broad and evolving spectrum of malicious traffic. This ranges from easily identifiable, most obvious, basic attack patterns to highly sophisticated methods designed to closely replicate real user identities. Consequently, security solutions must be strategically and tactically engineered to address this wide array of threats, adapting to the nature and complexity of each attack across various communication channels, including both web and mobile platforms.
Radware, a recognized leader in bot management, tackles this evolving threat landscape with its Layered Bot Defence Strategy. This comprehensive approach employs multiple, adaptive layers of protection—each designed to detect, mitigate, and defend against bot attacks of varying scale and sophistication, based on the unique characteristics of each threat.
Radware’s strategy is purpose-built to address these challenges head-on. Here’s how this multi-layered framework effectively neutralizes bots at every level of complexity.
Stage 1: Detecting the Basics – Scripted Bots and Emulated/Non- Legitimate Applications
At the foundational level, many bot attacks originate from simple scripts that send large volumes of requests without emulating the behaviour of real devices. On mobile platforms, bots often utilize emulators or simulators to mimic device interactions, enabling them to automate tasks such as credential stuffing or data scraping. In web environments, these bots typically operate in environments that cannot execute JavaScript, a key browser capability essential for rendering and interaction - employ headless browsers or automation tools - to send numerous requests, lacking genuine user interaction patterns.
Radware’s bot protection begins by verifying whether the requesting source can execute JavaScript in the browser. On mobile, it goes a step further—utilizing platform vendor attestation services to confirm whether the request originates from a legitimate app and environment. Emulated or tampered applications are stopped at the edge, preventing high-volume bot attacks.
Stage 2: Identity Spoofing – Imitating Real Users
Sophisticated bots do not always behave like bots. Some attempt to spoof identities, faking headers or masquerading as genuine users to slip past perimeter defenses.
Radware’s Identity Validation layer analyses traffic to verify if its origin and characteristics align with known identity profiles. This layer blocks:
- Spoofed headers
- Fraudulent devices
- Bots pretending to be authenticated users
By confirming identity integrity early, Radware significantly reduces the chance of impersonation-based intrusions.
Stage 3: Signature-Based Detection – Recognizing Known Threats
Once the request has cleared environmental and identity checks, it is validated using signature-based filtering. This involves examining browser and device fingerprints and comparing them against Radware’s known threat intelligence.
Bots that match known malicious patterns—including web scrapers and rudimentary crawlers—are promptly blocked. This stage acts like a fingerprint database, identifying repeat offenders and familiar techniques.
Stage 4: Behaviour Analysis – Detecting Advanced Bots
The most elusive bots do not just fake credentials—they try to act like humans. They:
- Rotate IPs
- Mimic mouse movements
- Simulate user navigation flows
To detect these advanced bots, Radware employs machine learning and behavioural analytics. The system automatically builds baselines of normal behaviour and flags deviations in real-time. Feedback loops and anomaly detection algorithms ensure that sophisticated bots are not bypassed from this detection.
Stage 5: The “Never Bypass” Layer – Human + Machine Synergy
Even the most advanced automation can miss subtle patterns. That is why Radware integrates human expertise through SOCX Detection. This human-in-the-loop layer reviews suspicious traffic that slips past earlier filters.
In parallel, the Auto Policy Engine constantly fine-tunes security rules based on live threat intelligence and SOC recommendations—ensuring defenses evolve just as fast as attackers do.
The Result: Clean, Verified Traffic Only
By the time traffic reaches your application, it has passed through multiple rigorous layers:
- Device validation
- Identity checks
- Signature matching
- Behaviour analysis
- Human inspection
What remains is trusted, human, and frictionless traffic—ensuring performance and security without compromise.
Conclusion:
Radware’s Bot Manager does not rely on a single detection method. Instead, it delivers a comprehensive and adaptive approach, combining client-side integrity checks, policy-driven filtering, behaviour-based detection, and expert oversight. This layered strategy ensures that malicious actors are stopped at every possible point, keeping your systems secure while maintaining user experience.
Ready to safeguard your digital assets? Learn more about Radware’s Bot Manager and how it can fit into your existing security infrastructure.