Predator bots are exploiting APIs at scale. Here’s how defenders must respond.

The report outlines the rise of AI-driven “predator bots” that mimic human behavior and exploit APIs and business logic at scale, driving credential theft, scalping, and fraud with an estimated annual impact up to $186B. It emphasizes that APIs are disproportionately targeted (drawing a large share of advanced bot traffic) and argues traditional defenses like static rules and CAPTCHAs are insufficient. The author recommends comprehensive API discovery, behavioral bot detection, adaptive MFA, machine-speed anomaly detection, and autonomous, context-aware controls that augment human analysts to counter evolving bot threats.