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What is a sneaker bot?

A sneaker bot, commonly referred to as a “shoe bot”, is a sophisticated software component designed to help individuals quickly purchase limited availability stock.

After using the bot to make purchases, bot users often resell the product at a higher price. As a result, customers become frustrated and the company suffers significant damage to its reputation.

Initially, sneaker bots were created to help their operators purchase a big quantity of limited-edition sneakers. Today, these bots are used to purchase any item in limited availability or products restricted to certain geographical regions.

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When do sneaker bot conflicts appear?

These conflicts appear when there is a "hyped up" shoe being released. For example, there was an Air Jordan shoe designed by rapper/songwriter J Balvin. His custom-designed shoes sold out in less than 1 hour - globally. This was due in part to sneaker bots speeding through checkout and purchasing incredibly large numbers of shoes.

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Are sneaker bots legal?

Yes - sneaker bots are in fact legal. They are not traded on the dark web or black market. In fact, most bot makers have websites, run advertisements, and publicly list their prices. As long as the purchases are made through the proper digital channels, using a sneaker bot is not considered illegal. However, sneaker bots do violate the terms and conditions defined by many websites.

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How do sneaker bots impact online businesses and their customers?

Sneaker bots contribute to the followings things:

Damaged brand reputation
Loss of revenue
Loss of brand royalty
Increased infrastructure costs
Slow website speeds
Distorted web metrics

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How do sneaker bots evade detection?

Fake Browser Fingerprints

These fake fingerprints are made to like like those of humans

Simulated Human Behavior

To be effective, a sneaker bot needs to imitate the behavior of human customers.

Residential IP Addresses

The most advanced bots rely on residential proxies. They are less abused and generally have better reputations, which makes it more difficult to detect bots.

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References

Imperva. (n.d.). Sneaker bot. Imperva. Retrieved December 12, 2021, from

https://www.imperva.com/learn/application-security/sneaker-bot/