Countering threats to business logic

Business logic is what links an end-user application, and the database it draws from, together.

The way this logic is written and developed determines how this data is shown, stored, created and modified, to enforce a particular business practice.

When an end user makes choices using software, or interacting with a website, it is business logic that determines how those instructions are carried out – what data to pull from the associated databases, and what business rules should be applied, if any.

For example, a bank will have detailed rules around what customers are eligible for certain loans or other financial products.

When a customer views and applies for loans via the bank’s website or mobile app, those same rules need to be followed by the software. The code that does this is business logic.

Why are business logic applications so appealing for cybercriminals?

Because these functions are so integral to how businesses leverage IT to complete their day-to-day operations, meet customer needs, and capture revenue, it’s no surprise they are a highly valued target for cybercriminals.

The normal use of an application for what it was originally designed for won’t typically expose flaws. But by interacting with it in a way that the developers never intended, a cybercriminal may be able to submit nonsensical input, make arbitrary changes to values, or commit other disruption.

Because they’re exploiting what’s working exactly as designed, these kinds of attacks are therefore much harder to identify and stop without having a strong understanding or monitoring of the business logic itself.

As applications and wider software systems have grown in complexity, development teams themselves may not be familiar with all aspects of the codebase they’re working with. Different sections can be combined in unexpected ways, and logic flaws and gaps can emerge as a result.

By taking advantage of the flawed assumptions that developers may have around how users will interact with a given application, cybercriminals can gain access to sensitive data and functionality.

Attacking flawed logic in the applications used to process credit card information, for example, could allow a threat actor to commit fraud and steal funds from otherwise well-intentioned customers.

What are some of the common ways business logic applications are being attacked?

It can be hard to quantify business logic attacks, because they typically transcend a particular software stack or technology.

An attempt to address this was made in May 2025, when the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) published its first Business Logic Abuse Top 10 vulnerabilities.

By categorizing these attacks, it aims to provide a framework for recognizing and responding to business logic threats, and help the cybersecurity community in the process.

It includes attacks ranging from abuse of one-time or short-lived resources, like tokens or login sessions, to allow actors to access sensitive operations or data, through to the abuse of rate limits – which can be used to carry out Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks by exhausting system resources.

Attackers are also increasingly using AI-powered bots to analyze failed attempts and refine their techniques. Thales’ most recent Bad Bot report found advanced and moderate bot attacks combined accounted for 55% of all bot attacks in 2024, with overall bad bot activity rising for the sixth consecutive year.

There has also been a surge in API-directed attacks – a key means of exploiting business logic - with 44% of advanced bot traffic targeting APIs.

What are the impacts?

Successful business logic attacks are very hard to spot with conventional means, which make their impact particularly devastating.

They can result in the theft of sensitive data, including personal details, financial information, and other commercially sensitive intelligence.

The result can be system outages, data breaches, financial losses, and damage to reputation – or even an organization's ability to function at all.

They can also lead to attackers directly stealing money by taking advantage of unprotected business logic, such as paying money for customers to sign up to certain mailing lists.

How can businesses protect themselves from these kinds of attacks?

Traditional security tools like firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and basic bot protection weren’t designed to identify and stop business logic abuse, because they focus on technical flaws, or known patterns of attack.

Instead, behavioral analytics, API monitoring and automation are vital to creating the kind of visibility that’s needed to prevent these more subtle and evolving attacks from escalating.

CISOs, security leaders as well as their developer teams must also know the workflows, processes, and expected user behavior of their workflows to identify potential weak points and vulnerabilities.

Advanced application security to protect and limit the scope of APIs and implement access controls are another way organizations can protect themselves.

There are certain workflows that are more likely to experience business logic abuse than others. These include login, checkout, and account creation – making them key areas for CISOs to prioritize first.

Finally, there are cultural and organizational changes leaders can make to protect their organizations from business logic abuse. Primarily these are about working to break down silos between security and engineering internally.

Embracing secure-by-design principles, and improving functions like API discovery and behavioral analytics as part of the software development process will make a big difference – and allow security to become a proactive enabler rather than a reactive barrier.

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