Malicious Bot Traffic Surges 9x Faster Than Human Traffic, Targeting…

Event summary

Malicious automated traffic grew 124% between July 2025 and June 2026, 9x faster than human traffic.
Scraping accounted for 70.9% of bad bot traffic, increasing 185.2% year-over-year.
AI bots targeted login pages 8x more, with 605.6 million requests to high-value user journeys in H1 2026.
65.3% of tested websites stopped none of the 10 bot types evaluated, up from 62.2% in 2025.

The big picture

The widening gap between automated traffic growth and website defenses highlights a critical need for more nuanced security solutions. As AI-driven attacks become more sophisticated, businesses must evolve beyond binary controls to protect high-value customer journeys without blocking legitimate activity. The expanding AI data supply chain is fueling this trend, making scraping the fastest-growing attack vector.

What we're watching

Defense Evolution: How businesses will adapt defenses to distinguish between beneficial and harmful AI agents.
High-Value Targets: The pace at which AI bots will infiltrate deeper into transaction flows and account management.
Regulatory Response: Whether governments will impose stricter regulations on bot and AI agent activity.