DDoS attacks on the rise, Akamai report finds

dubai — Total DDoS attacks in the second quarter of 2016 increased 129 per cent over the same period in 2015, Akamai Technologies has revealed in its Q2 2016 State of the Internet/ Security Report.

The report, using data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Platform, highlights the cloud security landscape, specifically trends with DDoS and web application attacks, as well as malicious traffic from bots. The second quarter report also spotlights a record 276 per cent increase in NTP reflection attacks.

“While attack sizes are decreasing, we continue to see an uptick in the number of attacks as launch tools grow increasingly pervasive and easy to use and monetise,” said Martin McKeay, editor in chief of the State of the Internet/Security Report. “This commoditisation renders businesses vulnerable to a higher frequency of attacks that they can’t defend against on their own. As we look toward Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October, it is important for organisations to understand what they are up against, specifically as adversaries increasingly threaten DDoS attacks for ransom.”

During the second quarter, Akamai mitigated a total of 4,919 DDoS attacks; and observed its largest DDoS to date at 363 Gbps on June 20 against a European media customer. At the same time, the median attack size fell by 36 per cent to 3.85 Gbps. Twelve attacks observed during the second quarter of the year exceeded 100 Gbps and two that reached 300 Gbps targeted the media and entertainment industry.

The report also revealed that the second quarter of the year witnessed a 14 per cent increase in total web application attacks over Q1, 2016. Brazil experienced a 197 per cent increase in attacks sourced from the region – the top country of origin for all web application attacks. The United States, ranked second among countries for total web application attacks, saw a 13 per cent decrease in attacks compared to Q1, 2016. SQL Injection and Local File Inclusion were found to be the two most common attack vectors in the second quarter.

During one 24-hour period in Q2, bots accounted for 43 per cent of all web traffic across the Akamai Intelligent Platform. Detected automation tools and scraping campaigns represented 63 per cent of all bot traffic, a 10 per cent increase from Q1, 2016. These bots scrape specific websites or industry segments and do not identify their intentions and origin.

— rohma@khaleejtimes.com