Survey highlights bots, account takeover, third-party scripts, and audience hijacking
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud company that powers and protects life online, today released the results of a new survey of IT and security professionals on the prevalence and effectiveness of specialized third-party solutions that combat the challenges of malicious bots, account takeover (ATO), third-party scripts, and audience hijacking.
From Bad Bots to Malicious Scripts: The Effectiveness of Specialized Defenses found that not only are these protective technologies prevalent, but the companies using them have seen significant, quantifiable improvement in their ability to mitigate risk and prevent damage to their organizations and customers.
Akamai partnered with Foundry on the report, which surveyed more than 300 global IT and security decision-makers. Respondents were asked about the solutions they had in place for four broad categories of fraud and abuse: malicious bots, ATO attacks, script risks, and audience hijacking.
Malicious bots
Almost nine out of 10 respondents (89 percent) use third-party solutions or a combination of third-party and in-house solutions to combat malicious bots. Nearly all (97 percent) reported an improvement in their efforts to combat bots, with more than half (54 percent) of those using third-party solutions indicating their cybersecurity capabilities have improved significantly since deployment. Of those who saw significant improvement, the top three capabilities and gains most frequently mentioned were:
Account takeover (ATO)
More than three-quarters (79 percent) of respondents said their businesses had been targeted by ATO attacks in the past 12 months. Two-thirds of survey takers said that their cybersecurity capabilities had significantly improved since deploying specialized ATO defenses, while 31 percent said they had somewhat improved. The most frequently reported gains by those who saw significant improvement were:
Script risks
More than eight in 10 (81 percent) respondents said their organizations have been targeted by suspicious script behavior within the past 12 months. Essentially all (98 percent) of those using third-party specialized script protection solutions say their cybersecurity capabilities have improved at least somewhat since their deployment. More specifically, 71 percent of those using third-party solutions saw a significant reduction in abusive script behaviors, with another 24 percent seeing moderate reduction. Of those who saw significant improvement, the three most frequently reported gains were:
Audience hijacking
Just over one-quarter (26 percent) of survey takers said their organizations have been impacted by audience hijacking tactics. According to the report, those who had experienced audience hijacking said the top two effects on their businesses were increased cart abandonment (43 percent) and increased affiliate fraud (41 percent).
"Malicious bots, scripts, and ATO attacks are pervasive and will continue to pose ever greater challenges for commerce organizations as digital innovation and investment drives competitive advantage and customer loyalty," said Patrick Sullivan, VP and CTO, Akamai Security Strategy. "From Bad Bots to Malicious Scripts: The Effectiveness of Specialized Defenses finds that third-party specialized defenses address unique challenges and offer exceptional effectiveness at mitigating and reducing the risk from online threats."
Regional data
From Bad Bots to Malicious Scripts: The Effectiveness of Specialized Defenses includes regional breakdowns for the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Highlights include:
United States
● Nine in 10 organizations said they'd been targeted by ATO attacks within the past year, the highest rate of all three regions. More than 9 in 10 (93 percent) have deployed a specialized ATO solution — higher than the overall response rate (83 percent).
Europe
Asia-Pacific (APAC)
About Akamai
Akamai powers and protects life online. Leading companies worldwide choose Akamai to build, deliver, and secure their digital experiences — helping billions of people live, work, and play every day. Akamai Connected Cloud, a massively distributed edge and cloud platform, puts apps and experiences closer to users and keeps threats farther away. Learn more about Akamai's cloud computing, security, and content delivery solutions at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Contact
Jim LubinskasAkamai Media Relations703.907.9103jlubinsk@akamai.com
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/akamai-survey-finds-third-party-defenses-help-reduce-risk-from-online-threats-301908498.html
SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.