We’ve all seen that movie where it takes the collaboration of superheroes to defeat the villain. One superhero will keep struggling until they join forces with other like-minded heroes. It’s the same way internet villains – bad bots – will not let you rest until you deploy a combination of solutions against them.
So, if you’ve been relying solely on anti-bot software to get rid of these online irritants, you’ve been using a knife for a sword fight. Your approach has been single-faced when it should be double-faceted. Little wonder you’ve recorded little progress in your battle against malicious bots.
Thankfully, help is here. The super-potent combination of process mining and anti-bot tools will ensure you have total victory over malicious bots and similar cyber threats. Process mining helps unveil your entire business landscape so you can clearly see areas to apply anti-bot solutions. Great collaboration, don’t you think?
We think so, too. That’s why we’re eager to show you how the synergy of process mining and anti-bot software is the master stroke you’ve been looking for. Hope the excitement is mutual.
Good and bad bots
Before delving into the synergy of anti-bot solutions and process mining, let’s have a clear understanding of what good and bad bots are. This understanding will enable us to see the need for a robust approach to battling bots.
Good bots are helpful and harmless bots. Many activities on the internet are performed by good bots. For example, search engine bots, also known as web crawlers or spiders, carry out the task of indexing website content for search engines like Google and Bing.
Chatbots are another example of good bots. They’re used in ecommerce to engage customers and prospects. Another good bot is the monitoring bot. This bot’s job is to block sensitive info from a stolen credit card. Other good bots include web scraping bots and shopping bots
Bad bots, on the other hand, are those used for malicious purposes. They’re used to carry out harmful actions on websites. In fact, they account for 30% of internet traffic. Examples of bad bots are download bots. These bots are employed to automatically download apps and software that are in turn used to manipulate download statistics.
Social media bots are another example of bad bots. They’re used to artificially boost the numbers of views, likes and followers on social media platforms for fraudulent financial gains. Other examples of bad bots are credential-stuffing bots, inventory-hoarding bots, spam bots, DDoS botnets and file-sharing bots.
What are anti-bot tools
Antibot tools or software are solutions designed to detect and eliminate bad bots on websites, computers and networks. These tools use machine learning to scan web requests to locate bad bots. They do this by searching for common characteristics of established bot requests. Once the bots are located, anti-bot tools eliminate them.
How bad bots affect your business
Anti-bot solutions have become necessary as a result of the effects of bad bots on businesses. Now, bad bots are not to be handled with kid’s gloves. If you don’t have essential cybersecurity practices, they have the potential of shutting down a business. Here are a few ways bad bots ruin businesses.
1. Decreased website performance
Bad bots slow down your system with many requests, leading to downtimes. When there are too many downtimes, website users are unable to complete their tasks and achieve their goals. This can lead to the loss of customers and prospects.
2. Takeover of customer accounts
Your customers’ accounts are at risk if you’re exposed to bad bots. These irritants can take over the accounts of your customers through credential stuffing. They’re used by cybercriminals to input stolen usernames and password pairs into website login forms.
3. Data theft
Stealing data from you and your customers has never been easier. With bad bots, it’s a walk in the park. These bots extract sensitive info from your system, leading to data breaches and fraud.
4. Inventory hoarding
If you’re into ecommerce, bad bots can be deployed to cheat the system by buying up expensive or limited edition products and selling them at a much higher price. With this dishonest activity, genuine customers will be denied access to deals and this may reduce customers and affect the reputation of the company.
What is process mining
Process mining applications are much-needed solutions that assist businesses in discovering, monitoring and improving their processes. These data-based apps allow you to analyze your business’s event logs, helping you gain insight into how they work and how to improve on them.
Event logs are basically records of your business operations. These records can be retrieved from information systems like customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise development software (ERP).
Simply put, process mining is an aspect of business process management (BPM) that enables you to observe and optimize your business processes. This practice helps you do away with assumptions about what your business processes are. Instead, you get a clear picture of the state of how your business runs.
How the synergy of process mining and anti-bot tools eliminates bad bots
The saying, ‘Two heads are better than one’ has never been truer. Yes, anti-bot tools are effective in getting rid of bad bots, but bring in process mining and see the magic the combination will perform.
First, to eliminate bots in your business operations, you need to understand your processes. This is where process mining comes in. The exercise lets you have a clear picture of your operations. It’s like beaming a searchlight in hidden areas of your room – you get a clearer vision and are able to envisage the angle any threat can come from.
Let’s illustrate this powerful synergy with a wound. Before dressing a wound, you must first clean it with an antiseptic to have a clear view of where to put the ointment. Applying ointment on a dirty wound would be most ineffective as there is no direct contact with the wound. However, as soon as the wound is cleaned, the ointment can work at full capacity.
With the advantage of process mining, you easily see otherwise hidden areas where bad bots can attack your business. When your processes are established and well-monitored, it becomes easier to apply anti-bot tools to affected areas. And this synergy produces a more effective and long-lasting result.
Also, we’re in a data-driven world and any worthwhile business decision should be data-backed. Process mining gives you all the data you need to effectively apply anti-bot tools. Another reason you should consider deploying this combo is that process mining optimizes your processes and an optimized business process reduces the risk of bad bots.
Benefits of combining process mining with anti-bot tools
With the clarity and strategy that process mining brings and the vicious approach of anti-bot software, one can only imagine the immense benefits that will ensue as a result of this synergy. Here are some of these benefits.
1. Robust threat detection
With the combined forces of process mining and anti-bot tools, you approach threat detection more comprehensively. While process mining sheds light on hidden areas, anti-bot software establishes user behavior patterns to detect bot activity.
2. Improved monitoring and response
To get rid of bad bots, you need to monitor their activities consistently. The dual effect of process mining and anti-bot solutions improves this monitoring process. Also, the response time of this combination is much better than if it’s just one method used.
3. Enhanced user experience
Bad bots ruin user experience. No one likes a slow website or being interrupted in their user journey by intrusive bots. Getting rid of these irritants through the process mining and anti-bot software combo will help you give your customers and prospects a smoother experience.
4. Better regulatory compliance
You have a duty to protect your customers’ data from malicious elements on the internet, and there are regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in place to ensure you take the right precautions. Combining process mining and anti-bot tools equips you to more efficiently adhere to these regulations.
Ditch the knife and brandish your double-edged sword
As mentioned earlier, the battle against bad bots requires a sword, not a knife. To bot-proof your business, you must approach the parasites from more than one side. Adding process mining to your anti-bot solutions is the perfect double-edged sword needed to win the fight against malicious bots.
If you want to avoid problems like reduced website performance, takeover of customers’ accounts, data theft and inventory hoarding, take the strategic step of combining methods. Process mining sheds light on different processes of your business to see the most vulnerable parts while anti-bot tools unleash attacks on the bad bots.
The end result? Robust threat detection, improved monitoring and response, better user experience and enhanced regulatory compliance, among other benefits. What are you waiting for? Ditch the ineffective knife and opt for a double-edged sword today.