Automated threat

An automated threat is a type of computer security threat to a computer network or web application, characterised by the malicious use of automated tools such as Internet bots. Automated threats are popular on the internet as they can complete large amounts of repetitive tasks with almost no cost to execute.

Threat ontology

The OWASP Automated Threat Handbook provides a threat ontology list for classifying automated threats, which are enumerated below.

Identity Code Name Defining characteristics OAT-020 Account Aggregation Use by an intermediary application that collects together multiple accounts and interacts on their behalf OAT-019 Account Creation Create multiple accounts for subsequent misuse OAT-003 Ad Fraud False clicks and fraudulent display of web-placed advertisements OAT-009 CAPTCHA Bypass Solve anti-automation tests OAT-001 Carding Multiple payment authorisation attempts used to verify the validity of bulk stolen payment card data OAT-010 Card Cracking Identify missing start/expiry dates and security codes for stolen payment card data by trying different values OAT-012 Cashing Out Buy goods or obtain cash utilising validated stolen payment card or other user account data OAT-007 Credential Cracking Identify valid login credentials by trying different values for usernames and/or passwords OAT-015 Denial of Service Target resources of the application and database servers, or individual user accounts, to achieve denial of service (DoS) OAT-006 Expediting Perform actions to hasten progress of usually slow, tedious or time-consuming actions OAT-004 Fingerprinting Elicit information about the supporting software and framework types and versions OAT-018 Footprinting Probe and explore application to identify its constituents and properties OAT-005 Scalping Obtain limited-availability and/or preferred goods/services by unfair methods OAT-011 Scraping Collect application content and/or other data for use elsewhere OAT-016 Skewing Repeated link clicks, page requests or form submissions intended to alter some metric OAT-013 Sniping Last minute bid or offer for goods or services OAT-017 Spamming Malicious or questionable information addition that appears in public or private content, databases or user messages OAT-002 Token Cracking Mass enumeration of coupon numbers, voucher codes, discount tokens, etc. OAT-014 Vulnerability Scanning Crawl and fuzz application to identify weaknesses and possible vulnerabilities

References