# Analyzing Good and Bad Behaviors on the Internet Cloudflare shares a new trust strategy for detecting bot and fraudulent traffic. - **Source:** [Cloudflare Blog](https://blog.cloudflare.com) - **Published:** 2026-08-07 - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/407e2845-960e-4c53-9315-f74e809b2681 ## Blurring Line Between Humans and Bots Traditional web security classified bots as bad and humans as good. Today, this distinction has blurred. Hybrid traffic models have emerged, like users browsing a store then handing checkout to an automated assistant. This fundamentally changes how website owners must evaluate behaviors. ## The Relationship Between Risk and Trust Cloudflare's bot detection team treats Risk and Trust as independent yet reciprocal values. Risk measures an action's potential harm, while Trust builds over time based on reputation. Like deciding whether to trust someone ringing your doorbell at night depends on who they are. ## Verified Bots and Transparency Cloudflare's BotBase system labels well-intentioned bots as 'Verified'. To earn this status, bots must: 1) Honestly declare identity, 2) Not abuse earned trust. This transparency creates mutual trust between site owners and bot operators through clear expectations. ## Continuous Monitoring with Precursor Cloudflare's new Precursor system analyzes user behavior continuously throughout sessions. Unlike traditional CAPTCHAs, it gathers contextual clues across entire visits. CDN-injected JavaScript requires no user action, making detection seamless while maintaining security. ## Economic Disincentives for Bot Developers Precursor's key advantage is making long-term human behavior imitation economically unfeasible for bot developers. Maintaining human-like actions across multi-page sessions becomes prohibitively expensive, discouraging malicious actors and creating a safer internet for all users. ## Spectrum of Bad Behaviors Malicious online activities range from obvious attacks to extremely subtle methods. Cloudflare detects non-human traffic even when network signals alone prove insufficient. Precursor eliminates 'one-time pass' vulnerabilities by monitoring behaviors throughout entire sessions. ## Advantages of Trust-Based Approach Unlike risk-based systems, trust-based solutions provide richer contextual insights. Cloudflare's strategy aims to equip site owners with tools for safer internet participation - from blocking malicious activities at the base level to encouraging positive engagement at the top. ## Comparison with Industry Solutions Traditional bot detection relies on static, point-in-time checks. Cloudflare's Precursor advances beyond these limitations with continuous behavioral analysis. This dynamic approach sets new web security standards, especially crucial as hybrid traffic models become more prevalent. ## Future Updates and Expectations Cloudflare plans exciting Precursor enhancements, including a simulation evaluating whether cursor movements originate from humans or bots. These innovations herald a new era in web security, addressing evolving challenges in an increasingly agentic internet landscape. ## Critical Step for Internet's Future As Agentic Internet concepts proliferate, trust-based approaches grow increasingly vital. Cloudflare's solutions address not just current threats but tomorrow's security needs. This strategy provides valuable guidance for all stakeholders building trust in our digital world. ## Sources covering this story - https://blog.cloudflare.com/good-and-bad-agentic-behaviors/ — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._