Large bandwidth DDoS attacks becoming more common

Large bandwidth DDoS attacks becoming more common

Distribution denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks with more than 20Gbps bandwidth have become quite common, according to research by Prolexis.

The study from the company, which helps businesses to mitigate the risk of DDoS, found that only a small number of businesses have the network infrastructure that allows them to deal with this size of attack.

As a result of the growing number of high-bandwidth DDoS attacks, Prolexis itself claims it will need to increase the capacity of its infrastructure. Without such capacity increases, businesses are likely to be exposed to these attacks.

The average attack bandwidth in the third quarter of 2012 was 4.9Gbps, up some 230 per cent on the same quarter in 2011. In terms of how long these attacks last, the average duration is now 19 hours, slightly up from the second quarter of this year. The problem is widespread, all over the globe and some 81 per cent of the attacks targeted the infrastructure layer.

The researchers have also noticed a change in the tactics for these high bandwidth DDoS attacks. It is becoming more commonplace for these attacks to be launched from botnets of compromised servers, as opposed to botnets of personal computers. The attackers are able to access these servers by taking advantage of outdated web applications, according to the study. One of the toolkits used by attackers to launch their DDoS attacks is known as "itsoknoproblembro”, which allows attackers to react to defences quickly.

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