Bots account for almost half of all internet traffic worldwide. The number of evil bots terrorizing the Internet is increasing every year.

An annual study by Thales shows that bots accounted for 49.6 percent of all internet traffic in 2023. That’s two percentage points more than in 2022. Many of these bots are malicious. Of all internet traffic worldwide in 2023, 32 percent came from bad bots. That’s an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared to 2022. Human traffic accounted for 50.4 percent.

A good bot is a software application that performs automated tasks. Such tasks can range from simple actions like filling out a form to more complex functions like scraping data from a website.

Bad bots can take data from websites for reuse without permission. They are often used for scalping when the items are in limited supply and are resold at a higher price. Bad bots are also used in DDoS attacks.

Globally, Ireland (71.4%) suffers the most from bad bots, followed by Germany (67.5%) and Mexico (42.8%). France has the most human interaction (75.1%) of all internet traffic, followed by Canada (69.4%) and the United Kingdom (69%).

If we look at the total number of malicious bot attacks per country, these are the top 10:

1. United States
2. The Netherlands
3. Australia
4. Great Britain
5. France
6. Singapore
7. Indonesia
8. Brazil
9. Canada
10. India