Flash Sale Exploitation & Cart Hoarding Bots

Scenario Overview

Exercise Type: Technical & Operational Response Simulation Target Audience: E-Commerce Teams, SOC Analysts, Customer Experience Leadership Scenario: Coordinated Bot Attack During High-Value Product Launch Duration: 120-150 minutes Objective: Validate real-time mitigation of scalper bots and cart-hoarding attacks while maintaining customer trust

Exercise Script

INJECT 1: Launch-Day Traffic Surge (Day 1 - 08:00 AM)

Situation:

Product launch metrics:
- 500,000 concurrent users at drop time
- 82% cart abandonment rate within 90 seconds
- Inventory API errors due to negative stock values
Security tools detect:
- 73% traffic from data center IPs (AWS, DigitalOcean)
- 14,000 checkout attempts/minute from 38 IPs

Discussion Prompt: "What immediate steps stabilize the platform? How differentiate legitimate traffic from bots?"

INJECT 2: Bot Tactics Confirmed (Day 1 - 08:15 AM)

Situation:

Forensic analysis reveals:
- Scalper bots using rotating residential proxies (Bright Data, Oxylabs)
- Headless browsers mimicking iOS/Android user agents
- CAPTCHA farms solving challenges in <2 seconds
Cart-hoarding patterns:
- 9,800 carts created with 50+ units each
- Session cookies manipulated to bypass per-IP limits

Discussion Prompt: "What technical countermeasures disrupt these tactics? How prioritize between scalpers vs. cart hoarders?"

INJECT 3: Inventory Manipulation (Day 1 - 08:45 AM)

Situation:

Real-time impacts:
- $1.2M in "phantom inventory" tied to unpaid carts
- Legitimate customers receive "out of stock" alerts for live items
- Third-party resellers list products on eBay at 300% markup
Database logs show:
- Race conditions in inventory lock mechanisms
- API endpoints vulnerable to replay attacks

Discussion Prompt: "How restore accurate inventory visibility? What API hardening prevents cart reservation abuse?"

INJECT 4: Customer Backlash Escalates (Day 1 - 10:00 AM)

Situation:

Social media trends:
- #FakeSale hashtag reaches 2.8M impressions
- 1,200+ complaints to Better Business Bureau
- 14% stock price dip due to CNBC coverage
Threat actors demand 5 BTC to release cart-held inventory

Discussion Prompt: "What communication strategy addresses public anger? How handle ransom demands without legitimizing attackers?"

INJECT 5: Countermeasure Deployment (Day 1 - 11:30 AM)

Situation:

Implemented solutions:
- Dynamic CAPTCHA for high-velocity checkout attempts
- Cart expiration reduced from 30 to 2 minutes
- Geo-blocking for known proxy infrastructure
New attack vectors emerge:
- Bots exploiting guest checkout with burner emails
- ATO attacks using credential-stuffed accounts

Discussion Prompt: "What layered defenses address evolving tactics? How balance security with conversion rates?"

INJECT 6: Post-Incident Fallout (Day 2 - 08:00 AM)

Situation:

Financial impacts:
- $4.8M in lost sales from cart abandonment
- $320K fraud losses from stolen credential use
- 19% customer churn post-event
Dark web monitoring finds:
- Attackers selling "bot kits" tailored to your platform
- Internal API documentation leaked on RaidForums

Discussion Prompt: "What long-term controls prevent repeat attacks? How rebuild partner/vendor trust?"

INJECT 7: Strategic Overhaul (Day 30 - 10:00 AM)

Situation:

Implemented changes:
- AI-powered behavioral biometrics (CursorDNA, MouseFlow)
- Blockchain-based inventory locking system
- Partnership with Arkose Labs for adaptive challenges
Remaining gaps:
- Mobile app API vulnerabilities
- Lack of unified bot management across web/app

Discussion Prompt: "What metrics validate recovery success? How institutionalize anti-bot testing in SDLC?"

Debrief Focus Areas

Real-Time Inventory Integrity Protocols
Behavioral Analysis for Bot Detection
Ransom Negotiation Ethics
API Security Hardening
Cross-Channel Customer Experience Protection

Post-Exercise Deliverables:

Flash Sale Playbook with Red/Blue Team Rulesets
Cart Reservation System Audit Framework
Dark Web Monitoring Integration Plan
Customer Trust Recovery Campaign

Next Steps:

Implement continuous cart validation workflows
Conduct monthly bot attack simulations
Establish cross-functional "Fairness Task Force"