More than half of Internet traffic is controlled by bots – automated programs that search web pages, interact with online content or perform other tasks. While some bots are “good” – like customer service bots that answer common queries and free up human resources to tackle higher priority requests – others are malicious – attempting to break into user accounts, scan for email addresses and send spam or conduct other cyberattacks.

How to identify bot attacks cause problems for businesses of all sizes. They can sift through website visitors’ data, scrape price information, fake click on advertising, test stolen credit card numbers and even take down websites in distributed denial-of-service attacks. In the process, they can cost e-commerce sites millions of dollars, inflate prices and skew marketing analytics, drain store credits and gift cards, and distort demand deposit account (DDA) fraud.

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Identifying bot attacks can be challenging, but the good news is that there are preventative steps to mitigate their impact on your business. The most important one is to use a combination of technology to identify and block these automated users. This can include a variety of methods such as CAPTCHA forms that require a human to complete them, hidden honeypot fields and device fingerprinting to identify users with suspicious tools and software.

Examining the way a website visitor interacts with each page, including mouse movements, scrolling cadences and engagement with different elements, can also help to identify bots. A sudden change in these metrics can point to an attack.