Stop the Bots: Practical Lessons in Machine Learning

Bot-powered credential stuffing poses a significant threat to the modern internet, as it attempts to take over user accounts by assaulting password forms with stolen credentials. Cloudflare has developed a suite of technologies grounded in machine learning (ML) to combat bots. The article discusses three stages that companies go through when infusing ML into their DNA: Business Intelligence, Standalone Machine Learning, and Machine Learning Productization. It provides an example from the dental insurance industry to illustrate these concepts. Cloudflare uses ML to address bot attacks on its network by analyzing data from 13 million domains and employing a state-of-the-art model to predict automated credential stuffing and other bot attacks. The company is also working on developing an algorithm to predict which companies will be attacked next, allowing for proactive protection against potential threats.