Cybersecurity researchers recommend
bandwidth protection against IoT botnets
SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES - Media OutReach
- September 13, 2018 - The average DDoS attack quintupled in size to more than
26 Gbps and the maximum attack size quadrupled to 359 Gbps compared to the same
period last year, according to Nexusguard's "Q2
2018 Threat Report." The quarterly report, which unbiasedly
evaluates thousands of worldwide DDoS attacks, attributes the dramatic rise to
IoT botnets and Satori malware exploits, which is a variant of the notorious
Mirai malware. Communications service providers (CSPs) and vulnerable
organizations will need to enhance bandwidth protection if they hope to stay
ahead of the surging attack sizes.
Due to the increase in IoT-related malware exploits and the rampant
growth of large-scale DDoS attacks, research conclusions point to the continued
use of IoT botnets. Cyberattacks hit the 2018 FIFA World Cup as well as
cryptocurrency-related businesses, maximizing revenue loss. For example,
attacks on the Verge Network (XVG) caused a loss of 35 million XVG tokens,
valued at more than $1.7 million. Nexusguard analysts warn that CSPs and
susceptible operations should enhance their preparedness to maintain their
bandwidth, especially if their infrastructures don't have full redundancy and
failover plans in place.
"The biggest zero-day risks can stem from
various types of home routers, which attackers can exploit to create expansive
DDoS attacks against networks and mission-critical services, resulting in
jumbo-sized attacks intended to cripple targets during peak revenue-generating
hours," said Juniman Kasman, chief technology officer for Nexusguard. "Telcos
and other communications service providers will need to take extra precautions
to guard bandwidth against these supersized attacks to ensure customer service
and operations continue uninterrupted."
Hackers favored attacks using universal
datagram protocol (UDP), with more than 31 percent of all attacks leveraging
this volumetric strategy. The connectionless protocol helps launch
mass-generated botnets, which also saps host resources and can ultimately make
them inaccessible. With nearly one-third of the worldwide Internet users, the
U.S. and China held their spots as the top two sources of attack traffic,
contributing 20 percent and more than 16 percent of attacks, respectively.
Nexusguard's quarterly DDoS threat
research gathers real-time attack data from botnet scanning, Honeypots,
internet service providers (ISPs) and traffic moving between attackers and
their targets to help companies identify vulnerabilities and stay informed
about global cyber security trends. Read the full "Q2 2018 Threat Report"
for more details.
About Nexusguard
Founded in 2008, Nexusguard is a leading
cloud-based distributed denial of service (DDoS) security solution provider
fighting malicious internet attacks. Nexusguard ensures uninterrupted internet
service, visibility, optimization and performance. Nexusguard is focused on
developing and providing the best cybersecurity solution for every client
across a range of industries with specific business and technical requirements.
Nexusguard also enables communication service providers to deliver DDoS
protection solution as a service. Nexusguard delivers on its promise to provide
you with peace of mind by countering threats and ensuring maximum uptime. Visit
www.nexusguard.com
for more information.
