Bot management is the process of blocking harmful internet bot traffic while permitting useful bot access to web pages. Bots are computer programs that operate on networks and perform repetitive tasks automatically, usually faster than humans. If left uncontrolled, bots can place an unmanageable load on web servers, causing problems for legitimate users. Malicious bots can scrape content, steal user credentials, and spread spam content.
Bot management software can distinguish between desirable and undesirable bot behavior by identifying bot activity and sources of undesirable activity. Bot managers can block some bots while allowing others; identify bots, bot reputation, and origin IP addresses; and analyze bot behavior. They can add good bots to allowlists, rate limit potential bot usage, and deny access to resources for bad bots. They can also challenge potential bots via CAPTCHA tests, JavaScript injection, or other methods and serve alternative content to bots.
There are good and bad bots. Good bots are those that perform helpful or necessary services like customer service chatbots, search engine crawlers, and performance monitoring bots, and they abide by the rules outlined in a website’s robots.txt file. Beneficial bots like these can be added to an allowlist. In contrast, bad bots misuse online products or services, like those that try to break into user accounts or buy up tickets on an events website. Bot management works by identifying bots through behavioral analysis or challenges and redirecting bad bots to different pages or blocking them from accessing web resources.
Looking to learn more? We suggest heading over to Cloudflare’s Learning Center for an in-depth look at about bot management.
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