Challenges
- A multi-billion dollar airline faced relentless scraping from unauthorized Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) — up to 99% of traffic on key endpoints was bots.
- One OTA scraped for virtual interlining without compensating the airline for its data feed.
- When travelers ran into problems with OTA-booked travel, they blamed the airline — a poor experience and brand image issue.
Results
- Discovered the unauthorized OTA and shut down its scraping.
- Improved site speed and stability by 30%, enabling a smooth site experience that encourages booking direct.
- Supported a top company goal of owning its customer relationships.
Adversaries exploit bot-driven attacks to scrape fares, interfere with dynamic pricing, and harm customers by taking over accounts and stealing rewards.
The Growing Threat Landscape
IATA
1.2%
of an airline’s revenue is lost to web and mobile fraud.
Airlines are tempting targets due to vast amount of sensitive customer and payment data handled.
Source: International Air Transport Association
