BORACAY — Fans who spend hours in online queues for concert tickets may be competing with bots or software used to line up and buy tickets automatically. For businesses, the challenge is knowing which bots to block and which to let in, since some also help real customers shop.
In an interview with Back End News on the sidelines of the VSTECS CXO Tech Summit, which runs until Oct. 23, Rachel Ler, area vice president for Fastly in Asia, described how users are asking AI tools to find products and make purchases on their behalf. Such requests give businesses a reason to allow some automated traffic on their websites.
“What are the rules that the customer wants to set within their environment to make sure that they allow meaningful bots to come in and do meaningful transactions with their business?” Ler said.
Fastly provides an edge platform covering content delivery, next-generation security, AI workload controls, and edge computing. Ler said the company helps businesses identify automated visitors and understand their behavior so they can decide which activities to allow or block. It also offers businesses with Fastly AI Bot Management and Bot Management tools to monitor, control, and block AI chatbots, LLM crawlers, and automated scrapers
Ler also explained that businesses can see which platforms bot traffic comes from and distinguish between activities such as AI crawling and fetching information. This gives them a clearer picture of how automated visitors use their websites.
Ler described users asking AI tools to find and buy materials for a project, such as building a drone. These requests can automate parts of the shopping process. Blocking that activity could interrupt a potential purchase.
Other uses call for a different assessment. Ler cited bots collecting prices during Black Friday sales, when retailers compete on small price differences. She said this activity can hurt a retailer’s business.
Collecting prices is not automatically a security attack. Whether to allow it depends on the retailer’s rules and business needs.
Ler said Fastly works with customers to understand those needs before setting security rules. The aim is to give businesses control over automated access while allowing activities they consider useful.
Those controls also need to work for people trying to use the service.
In concert ticket sales, Ler said sellers are looking at waiting room solutions that allow buyers proceed to seat selection and payment when their turn arrives.
However, checks designed to stop bots can also delay legitimate buyers. This is particularly frustrating when tickets are limited and customers have little time to complete a purchase.
Ler discussed token-based user verification as a way to reduce reliance on image challenges, such as asking customers to select traffic lights.
For online sellers, the question is whether a security check protects the transaction without making it unnecessarily difficult to complete. Bot controls and the buying experience need to be considered together.
Businesses also need to understand how their applications connect to back-end systems containing customer information.
These connections, called application programming interfaces, or APIs, allow software to exchange data. Ler said some businesses do not have a clear picture of the APIs their applications use or the information those connections can access.
She said Fastly’s edge platform supports API discovery, helping customers identify these connections before deciding what protection each one needs. An inventory gives IT teams a starting point: know which connections exist, determine what information they need, and set access rules accordingly.
Fastly also offers AI Runtime Control (ARC), which manages connections between applications and AI services. It helps businesses control access, track usage and costs, and keep those connections reliable. This serves a different purpose from managing bots visiting a public website.
For Philippine businesses with small IT teams, Ler emphasized simpler management. She said a modular approach lets customers start with the capabilities they need and add more as their requirements grow.
A common management interface can reduce training needs and make troubleshooting easier. Real-time information about incoming attacks also helps teams decide how to respond.
Businesses should start by identifying the problem they need to solve, whether that is unwanted content collection, bots disrupting purchases, or unclear access to customer information. Those needs should guide their choice of security tools.
“Focus on the business challenges that you want to solve, and then you can decide what platforms serve you best,” Ler said.
Fastly provides an edge platform covering content delivery, next-generation security, AI workload controls, and edge computing. Ler said the company helps businesses identify automated visitors and understand their behavior so they can decide which activities to allow or block.
Ler also explained that businesses can see which platforms bot traffic comes from and distinguish between activities such as AI crawling and fetching information. This gives them a clearer picture of how automated visitors use their websites.
Ler described users asking AI tools to find and buy materials for a project, such as building a drone. These requests can automate parts of the shopping process. Blocking that activity could interrupt a potential purchase.
Other uses call for a different assessment. Ler cited bots collecting prices during Black Friday sales, when retailers compete on small price differences. She said this activity can hurt a retailer’s business.
Collecting prices is not automatically a security attack. Whether to allow it depends on the retailer’s rules and business needs.
Ler said Fastly works with customers to understand those needs before setting security rules. The aim is to give businesses control over automated access while allowing activities they consider useful.
Those controls also need to work for people trying to use the service.
In concert ticket sales, Ler said sellers are looking at waiting room solutions that allow buyers proceed to seat selection and payment when their turn arrives.
However, checks designed to stop bots can also delay legitimate buyers. This is particularly frustrating when tickets are limited and customers have little time to complete a purchase.
Ler discussed token-based user verification as a way to reduce reliance on image challenges, such as asking customers to select traffic lights.
For online sellers, the question is whether a security check protects the transaction without making it unnecessarily difficult to complete. Bot controls and the buying experience need to be considered together.
Businesses also need to understand how their applications connect to back-end systems containing customer information.
These connections, called application programming interfaces, or APIs, allow software to exchange data. Ler said some businesses do not have a clear picture of the APIs their applications use or the information those connections can access.
She said Fastly’s edge platform supports API discovery, helping customers identify these connections before deciding what protection each one needs. An inventory gives IT teams a starting point: know which connections exist, determine what information they need, and set access rules accordingly.
Fastly also offers AI Runtime Control (ARC), which manages connections between applications and AI services. It helps businesses control access, track usage and costs, and keep those connections reliable. This serves a different purpose from managing bots visiting a public website.
For Philippine businesses with small IT teams, Ler emphasized simpler management. She said a modular approach lets customers start with the capabilities they need and add more as their requirements grow.
A common management interface can reduce training needs and make troubleshooting easier. Real-time information about incoming attacks also helps teams decide how to respond.
Businesses should start by identifying the problem they need to solve, whether that is unwanted content collection, bots disrupting purchases, or unclear access to customer information. Those needs should guide their choice of security tools.
“Focus on the business challenges that you want to solve, and then you can decide what platforms serve you best,” Ler said.