Content delivery network and cloud provider Akamai Technologies has released Content Protector, a product that is claimed to stop scraping attacks without affecting legitimate traffic to websites.
In a statement, the company said scraper bots were often used for competitive under-cutting, surveillance before inventory hoarding attacks and counterfeiting goods and and websites.
The Content Protector would detect evasive scrapers and stole content for malicious purposes, it said.
The product was designed for companies that needed to protect intellectual property, reputation, and revenue potential.
{loadposition sam08}Its tailored detections include:
"Protocol-level assessment: Protocol fingerprinting evaluates how the client establishes the connection with the server at the different layers of the Open Systems Interconnection model — verifying that the parameters negotiated align with the one expected from the most common web browsers and mobile applications;
"Application-level assessment: Evaluates if the client can run some business logic written in JavaScript. When the client runs JavaScript, it collects the device and browser characteristics and user preferences. These various data points are compared and cross-checked against the protocol-level data to verify consistency;
"User interaction: Analyses human interaction with the client through standard peripherals like a touch screen, keyboard, and mouse. Lack of interaction or abnormal interaction is typically associated with bot traffic;
"User behaviour: Monitors the user journey through the website. Botnets typically go after specific content, resulting in significantly different behaviour than legitimate traffic; and
"Risk classification: Provides a deterministic and actionable low-, medium-, or high-risk classification of the traffic, based on the anomalies found during the evaluation."
Rupesh Chokshi, Akamai senior vice-president and general manager, Application Security, said: “Content scraping brings serious harm to businesses.
“This includes competitors undercutting your offers, slower sites that lead customers to get frustrated and leave, and brand damage from counterfeiters passing off sub-par goods as your legitimate merchandise.
"Content Protector helps demonstrate the direct business value of security while enabling business leaders to grow their digital businesses.”