One method of controlling network traffic is rate restriction. It limits the number of times someone may take a certain action — like trying to log into an account — in a given period of time. Some dangerous bot activity can be stopped with the use of rate limitation. Additionally, it helps ease the load on web servers.
What types of bot attacks does rate limitation prevent?
- Brute Force Attack
- DoS and DDoS
- Web Scarapping
- Bad Bots
How does rate limitation function?
Rate restriction takes place within an application as opposed to the web server. In most cases, rate restriction is based on monitoring the IP addresses from which requests originate and the amount of time that passes between each request. The primary method by which an application determines who or what is making the request is via the IP address.
Both the number of requests within a given time-frame and the length of time between each request from each IP address are measured by a rate limiting system. If a single IP address makes too many requests in the allotted period, the rate limiting solution will temporarily deny service to that IP address.
In essence, a rate-limited application will tell individual users who are making requests quickly to slow down. This is similar to a parent warning their child not to consume too much candy in a short period of time or a police officer stopping a car for exceeding the posted speed limit on the road.
How do user logins and rate limitation interact?
If users try to log in too many times in a short period of time without success, their accounts may be locked out. This happens when login rate limitation is enabled on a website.
This security measure is in place to prevent brute force assaults, in which a bot tries hundreds of different passwords before settling on the right one and accessing the account. It is not intended to annoy people who have forgotten their passwords. Such an assault is statistically unlikely to succeed if a bot can only make three or four login attempts each hour.
How does rate limitation work on social media platforms?
Rate limitation on social networking platforms is essentially just API rate limiting. For example, any third-party programme that integrates Twitter is limited to a set number of refreshes each hour to check for new tweets or messages. Similar restrictions apply to third-party applications on Instagram. Users could occasionally see alerts like “rate limit exceeded” for this reason.
The majority of the time, people that use social media directly are exempt from these restrictions.
The Rate Limiting helps to prevent anonymous brute force attack and much more illegal activities.
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