AI Revolutionizes Malicious Bot Landscape: 37% of Global Web Traffic Now Malicious, Thales Report Reveals

According to the 2025 Imperva Malicious Bot Report, the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving a significant increase in bot traffic, which now exceeds half of all global internet traffic. The report, released recently by global technology and security solutions leader Thales, provides a comprehensive analysis of automated bot traffic across the internet. This year marks the 12th annual study, and the data clearly indicates that the widespread adoption of generative AI is fundamentally altering the way bots are developed, making it easier for even less skilled hackers to launch large-scale attacks more frequently and with more sophisticated methods. One key factor behind this rise is the growing popularity of the "Bots-as-a-Service" (BaaS) business model. Hackers are increasingly leveraging AI to meticulously analyze failed attack attempts, enabling continuous improvements in their techniques. As a result, they can breach corporate security defenses more efficiently. In 2024, automated bot traffic surpassed human-generated traffic for the first time in a decade, accounting for 51% of all global internet traffic. This shift is largely attributed to the rise of AI and large language models (LLMs), which simplify the creation and deployment of malicious bots. The accessibility of AI tools has further emboldened cybercriminals, leading to an increase in the use of these technologies for building and deploying malicious bots. Currently, 37% of global internet traffic is generated by malicious bots, a notable rise from 32% in 2023. This upward trend in malicious bot activity has been consistent for the past six years, posing a continuous threat to the security of corporate digital assets. The report underscores the need for enterprises and security organizations to adopt more advanced technologies to counter this growing threat. Traditional security measures are becoming increasingly inadequate against the evolving and increasingly intelligent malicious bots. To safeguard data and systems, companies must enhance their monitoring and response capabilities and deploy smarter security solutions. These new approaches are essential to mitigate the risks of more complex and challenging attacks in the future.