SERVICE BRIEF
Protect Digital Assets with the FortiGuard
Advanced Bot Protection Service
Executive Summary
A substantial portion of automated traffic or bots are designed to carry out
nefarious attacks like credential theft, web scraping, fraud, and denial of service.
These advanced bots often evade older defenses when targeting digital assets by
mimicking real user behavior. Organizations that fail to detect and thwart these
attacks can suffer financial losses, data breaches, website crashes, and brand
reputation damage.
A recent report found that 47.4%
As malicious bots grow in sophistication, defenses need to as well. Protecting of all internet traffic came from
applications from bot-related threats requires continuous learning about bot bots, a 5.1% increase from 2021.
behaviors and the ability to correlate between patterns of bot activities. Reactive During the same period, human
methods like basic CAPTCHA tests, IP blacklisting, and even device fingerprinting traffic fell to 52.6%, reaching
are no longer sufficient. Defending against bots requires advanced techniques, an eight-year low. And traffic
such as behavioral analysis, machine learning (ML), biometric indicators, and from bad bots increased for
threat intelligence. The FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection Service enhances the the fourth consecutive year,
Fortinet web application and API protection solution set with these capabilities to reaching 30.2%.1
defend against bot attacks.
The Challenges Posed by Malicious Bots
The proliferation of bots on the internet is a threat to organizations because they can be programmed for malicious purposes,
such as fraud, data theft, content scraping, account takeover, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. As bots become
more sophisticated and can mimic real user behaviors, it is critical to accurately distinguish between bots and real users.
Whether hosted locally or in the cloud, traffic from the Internet to an application comprises humans and bots. Bots can be
either legitimate programs or have malicious intent, so it’s essential to accurately classify bot traffic based on intent analysis.
Legitimate bots such as search engine crawlers, chatbots, data aggregators, and other robotic process automation programs
should be allowed through the organization’s defenses, while malicious ones must be detected and blocked.
To meet data privacy standards, many organizations also must be able to protect internet-facing applications and network
infrastructure from data theft and unnecessary load. The ultimate goal is to protect digital assets from a spectrum of automated
threats while securing the user experience, online revenue streams, and intellectual property.
Detect and Mitigate Bot Attacks with FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection
FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection Service features sophisticated techniques to detect and mitigate malicious bot attacks
while allowing legitimate traffic through. Delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) with continuously updated datasets, it is
easily deployed as a standalone solution or an integrated add-on to FortiADC or FortiWeb. The Advanced Bot Protection Service
collects telemetric data by injecting JavaScript code into the client. It then analyzes multiple behavioral indicators to identify the
intent of the bot. Based on this analysis, the service determines a risk score fed back into the application. The Advanced Bot
Protection Service helps defend against bot threats using:
n IP reputation database: Maintains a real-time database of known or suspicious IP addresses associated with bots and blocks
traffic from them
n Browser fingerprinting: Creates unique fingerprints for each visitor by looking at various browser and device attributes to
recognize repeat offenders
n Biometric detection: Analyzes visitor device interactions, such as mouse movements, scrolling behavior, and other human-
like patterns to determine if a user is a real human or a bot
1
Protect Digital Assets with FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection Service SERVICE BRIEF
n ML models: Uses artificial intelligence (AI) to train models on vast datasets and
continuously improve and refine bot detection capabilities
n Real-time threat intelligence (AI score): Leverages global threat intelligence to
stay abreast of new and emerging bot threats and update protections
n Comprehensive analytics: Provides detailed bot traffic analytics and attack
forensics to enhance understanding of bot patterns and strategies
n Integration with FortiADC and FortiWeb: Allows FortiADC and FortiWeb to
send telemetry data to the bot protection system, providing deeper insights into
The ML algorithms used
sophisticated bots for more accurate detection and blocking by the FortiGuard Advanced
Bot Protection Service
Secure Online Revenue and Keep Data Safe continuously monitor and study
Organizations must protect their applications from sophisticated bot attacks to sophisticated bot behaviors to
continue to earn online revenue and preserve the user experience. The FortiGuard deliver maximum protection
and detection accuracy.
Advanced Bot Protection Service distinguishes between good, bad, and real users.
The solution is designed to provide precise detection across web, mobile, and APIs
while minimizing false positives and negatives. FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection
allows users to monitor and block malicious bot behaviors, such as account takeover,
web scraping, data theft, and fraud.
One of the key benefits of FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection is that beyond enhancing application delivery and web
application security capabilities, it can also be integrated into the Fortinet Security Fabric, which provides centralized
management, visibility, and consistent security wherever applications are located. FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection offers:
n A minimal footprint and low latency thanks to the Fortinet global infrastructure
n Easy deployment as a SaaS component collecting telemetric data using JavaScript
n Visibility for network and security operations teams
n Integration with additional services from Fortinet that can be bundled to deliver comprehensive application security
Figure 1: The FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection Service
2
Protect Digital Assets with FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection Service SERVICE BRIEF
Effective Protection against Bot Attacks
Malicious bots are more pervasive and sophisticated than ever, so it is more difficult for older security solutions to detect and
block them. Organizations need solutions that distinguish between good and bad bots and between bots and human users.
Today, effective bot protection technology must combine advanced detection and mitigation techniques with continuous
updates to protect against attacks. As a SaaS bot solution, FortiGuard Advanced Bot Protection secures digital assets and
activities while optimizing resource investments. Learn more about securing the application journey from end to end using
Fortinet solutions.
1
CPO Magazine, Bad Bots Account For 30% Of Internet Traffic and Are More Frequent in Account Takeover and API Attacks, May 30, 2023.
[Link]
Copyright © 2023 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. Fortinet®, FortiGate®, FortiCare® and FortiGuard®, and certain other marks are registered trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., and other Fortinet names herein may also be registered and/or common law trademarks of Fortinet. All other product
or company names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Performance and other metrics contained herein were attained in internal lab tests under ideal conditions, and actual performance and other results may vary. Network variables, different network environments and other
conditions may affect performance results. Nothing herein represents any binding commitment by Fortinet, and Fortinet disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied, except to the extent Fortinet enters a binding written contract, signed by Fortinet’s General Counsel, with a purchaser
that expressly warrants that the identified product will perform according to certain expressly-identified performance metrics and, in such event, only the specific performance metrics expressly identified in such binding written contract shall be binding on Fortinet. For absolute clarity, any
such warranty will be limited to performance in the same ideal conditions as in Fortinet’s internal lab tests. Fortinet disclaims in full any covenants, representations, and guarantees pursuant hereto, whether express or implied. Fortinet reserves the right to change, modify, transfer, or otherwise
revise this publication without notice, and the most current version of the publication shall be applicable.
December 30, 2023 3:02 PM
2489260-0-0-EN