DDoS attacks intensified in first half of 2014
The volume and intensity of DDoS attacks in the first half of the year reached new heights, according to research.
The first half of 2014 has seen the highest number and most intense DDoS attacks on record.
According to a new report from security provider Arbor Networks, the number of distributed denial-of-service events topping 20Gbps in the first half of the year doubled in comparison to all of 2013. More than 100 events at 100Gbps or higher were recorded in the first half of 2014.
The largest reported attack in the second quarter was an NTP reflection attack at 154.69Gbps, launched against a Spanish target. NTP reflection attacks use address spoofing to overwhelm a target with requests. Such attacks -- while still significant -- were more prevalent in the first quarter than the second, according to Arbor. Average NTP traffic volumes are also falling back globally.
"Following on from the storm of NTP reflection attacks in Q1, volumetric DDoS attacks continued to be a problem well into the second quarter, with an unprecedented 100 attacks over 100GB/sec reported so far this year," said Arbor director of solutions architects Darren Anstee.
"The frequency of very large attacks continues to be an issue, and organizations should take an integrated, multi-layered approach to protection. Even organizations with significant amounts of Internet connectivity can now see that capacity exhausted relatively easily by the attacks that are going on out there."
This story originally posted as "2014 DDoS attacks: Heavier and in higher volume" on ZDNet.