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.^[1] Automated threats are popular on the internet as they can complete large amounts of repetitive tasks with almost no cost to execute.^[2]

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