Arkose Labs is a San Francisco-based company that provides bot detection and mitigation services to protect websites and mobile apps from automated attacks. But is Arkose Labs a legitimate business providing real value, or are they overpromising on their capabilities?
What does Arkose Labs do?
Arkose Labs offers a software platform that aims to stop malicious bots from creating fake accounts, taking over user accounts, scraping content, and committing payment fraud. Their solution works by analyzing user behavior and looking for patterns that indicate automated activity vs a real human. When their system detects a suspicious bot, it will present challenges like CAPTCHAs to further validate whether it is a bot or human.
Some key capabilities Arkose Labs claims their platform provides:
- Detect and mitigate credential stuffing attacks
- Prevent account takeover from fraud bots
- Stop scraping of content, prices, and inventory data
- Identify fraudulent transactions and prevent payment fraud
- Provide bot management analytics and reporting
The Arkose Labs platform integrates with websites and apps through public and private APIs. It can work alongside other fraud prevention and security systems that companies already have in place.
Who uses Arkose Labs?
Arkose Labs claims their customers include many major consumer brands across industries like financial services, travel, e-commerce, social media, and online gaming. Some of the most notable companies they list as customers include:
- PayPal
- Microsoft
- Fidelity
- Airbnb
- Blizzard Activision
- Ticketmaster
- Roblox
Having big brand name companies as customers lends some legitimacy to Arkose Labs. These companies are likely rigorous in evaluating security solutions before adopting them.
How does Arkose Labs’ technology work?
Arkose Labs uses a multi-layered approach to detecting and stopping bots:
Behavioral modeling
Their system profiles normal human vs automated behavior patterns. This includes analyzing things like mouse movements, clicks, swipes, and typing patterns. Suspicious non-human behavior triggers challenges.
Evasion detection
Identifies patterns indicating the bot is trying to evade detection through methods like frequency capping or weird mouse movements.
OCR visual challenges
Uses OCR analysis on visual challenges to detect when bots are trying to brute force solve challenges vs legitimate users.
Bot fingerprinting
Tracks specific attributes and patterns to identify known bad bots behind attacks across accounts.
Solving hard AI problems
Uses computational techniques like fuzzy logic, fractal algorithms, and confidence scoring to separate bots from humans.
Arkose Labs claims these methods allow them to detect sophisticated modern bots using AI and machine learning not just simple script bots.
Evidence Arkose Labs stops real world attacks
Arkose Labs publishes research on real world bot attacks they’ve seen against their customers. Some examples:
108 million bot attacks stopped in 2022
In their 2022 State of Fraud report, Arkose Labs claims to have stopped 108 million bot attacks in 2022 alone. The majority were credential stuffing and account takeover attacks across financial services, ecommerce, travel, and social media sites.
1.5 billion scam ads blocked
Arkose Labs says they blocked over 1.5 billion scam, pornographic, and otherwise malicious ads on a major customer website in the first 10 months after being implemented.
98% reduction in retail cart abandonment
One retail customer saw a 98% drop in shopping cart abandonment rates after implementing Arkose Labs’ bot mitigation according to their published case study.
This data indicates Arkose Labs is stopping very high volumes of automated attacks for its customers. The results seem too consistently high across customers to be fabricated.
Comparisons to competitors
Arkose Labs is competing in a crowded market of bot mitigation and fraud prevention vendors. How does Arkose Labs stack up against alternatives?
| Company | Founded | Funding raised | Key technical focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkose Labs | 2015 | $113 million | Behavioral analysis |
| DataDome | 2015 | $40 million | Bot fingerprints |
| FingerprintJS | 2018 | $56 million | Browser fingerprinting |
| PerimeterX | 2014 | $100 million | Behavioral analysis |
This comparison shows Arkose Labs has competitive funding and some of the top technical experts in the industry behind it. The company’s large client base confirms it is keeping pace with alternatives.
Valid concerns about Arkose Labs’ capabilities
While the evidence suggests Arkose Labs is a legitimate company, there are some valid concerns about their capabilities:
False positives
Like any bot detection system, Arkose likely mistakenly flags some real users as bots. These false positives could hurt conversion rates and user experience.
Sophisticated bots evolve tactics
Bad actors are constantly evolving their tactics to mimic human behavior and evade detection. Can Arkose Labs keep up?
No solution is 100% effective
It’s doubtful any company can block 100% of bot attacks once targeted. The most sophisticated bots likely still get through occasionally.
Lack of transparency
As a private company, Arkose Labs reveals little hard data about false positive rates, technical capabilities, and actual attack prevention rates.
While Arkose seems to offer excellent protection, it’s fair to approach claims of any vendor blocking all attacks with skepticism. Their solutions likely only work partially at best.
Conclusion
In summary – Arkose Labs appears to be a legitimate cybersecurity company with a robust bot detection and mitigation platform. Leading brands across multiple industries have adopted their technology to combat automated attacks. They seem to perform as well as or better than competitors in the market. However, it’s wise to take any vendor’s claims with some skepticism, as no solution will be 100% effective against sophisticated modern bot attacks. Overall Arkose Labs is considered a leader in the bot management space.
