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Showing posts with the label DDoS

Partial-Link Saturation Leads to Performance Degradation

Sub-saturating DDoS attacks cause network congestion and service degradation. This is especially important in a Carrier (Internet Service Provider or Hosting Provider) environment because 1) even small attacks can saturate a customer downstream, and we all know that in an always-on world, network reliability is crucial for subscribers, 2) DDoS traffic is costly to transit across the network, and 3) downtime impacts Service Level Agreements (SLAs). In the highly competitive Carrier arena, SLAs often promise optimum network reliability; the only way to guarantee that is by using an always-on, in-line DDoS mitigation appliance. Solutions for Effective DDoS Mitigation The fact is that legacy DDoS mitigation solutions, such as scrubbing, completely overlook the small, low-threshold attacks. Just because a DDoS attack is small doesn’t mean it isn’t a huge problem. It takes hackers only a few minutes to map a network, steal date, install malware, or discover your network vulnerabilities;...

How to prevent a DDoS?

Keeping yourself protected from DDoS attacks is something that is often easier said than done because of the fact cybercriminals will often stop at nothing to gain unauthorised access to private data, and many international brands such as Netflix, AirBnB, and Spotify have all become victims in the past. In spite of this, there are certain things that can be done in an effort to prevent a DDoS attack from occurring. Denial of service attack definition Firstly, you will need to make sure that any firewalls and routers are configured in the correct manner and applied with up-to-date security patches. Similarly, it’s also worth regularly checking for security updates for your Internet of Things (IoT) devices and adding a password where possible. This is because these devices have been increasingly targeted by hackers in recent years. Doing everything in your power to keep things up to date will ensure that any bogus traffic is promptly rejected during a process whereby network traff...

IoT insecurity fuels the fire

The expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) has played a major role in the recent growth of DDoS attacks. Many of these devices forgo security because of reliance on default credentials, making them easy game for botnet viruses. Denial of service attack prevention “Mirai was a turning point highlighting the power of DDoS botnets comprised of IoT devices,” Patrick Sullivan, Akamai’s senior director of security strategy, told The Daily Swig. The Mirai botnet was behind a major DDoS attack against DNS provider Dyn, which caused a major internet outage in October 2016. The botnet comprised a large number of internet-connected cameras, home routers, and baby monitors. “Not only do the sheer number of vulnerable IoT devices present a challenge, but attacker willingness to use these bots to perform Application Layer Attacks leads to higher levels of sophistication,” Sullivan said.

What is the history of DDoS?

According to Wikipedia , the first demonstration of a DDoS attack was made by hacker Khan C. Smith in 1997 during a DEF CON event, disrupting Internet access to the Las Vegas Strip for over an hour. The release of sample code during the event led to the online attack of Sprint, EarthLink, E-Trade, and other major corporations in the year to follow. Know more:  what are ddos attacks ? In early 2000, Canadian teen hacker Michael Calce upped the DDoS ante and made a big impression on the business community by bringing down Yahoo! with a DDoS—a feat he repeated in the week that followed by disrupting other major sites such as Amazon, CNN, and eBay. The general threshold of effort it takes for a hacker to arrange a DDoS has only decreased in difficulty with reports of cybergangs renting out botnets for as little as $10-per-hour. Finally, as we have entered the Internet of Things (IoT) era, almost any Internet-connected device such as smartphones, security cameras, routers, and ...