Monday, November 17, 2008
The number of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks launched against internet service providers (ISPs) and their customers have nearly doubled in the past 12 months, PC World has reported.
According to new research, DDoS attacks now have a sustained intensity of around 42Gbps, up from 24Gbps a year ago.
DDoS attacks are coordinated strikes launched against servers and networks with the intention of overloading them with data requests.
They have become particularly ferocious since the rise of botnets - large groups of infected PCs which are commanded to inundate servers with data simultaneously.
However, PC World has noted that while the density of attacks is increasing, ISPs are also becoming more adept at identifying botnet activity and blocking incoming traffic.
Other security concerns identified in the study included the growing use of the IPv6 transmission protocol as an attack vector.
IPv6 aims to enhance network security by updating the less resilient tenets of the existing base for web-based packet transmission, IPv4, which is more than 20 years old.
Related News:
Social networks new rising target for cybercriminals - 12.17.2008
Cybercriminals are focusing their efforts on social networks, given its rising popularity and potential to manipulate the user through "friend" messages.
Malware targets the French - 12.10.2008
Websense reported yesterday of malware targeting French users that appears to be taking advantage of some recent security updates from Microsoft.
Facebook has Koobface - 12.5.2008
Despite its seemingly secure system, Facebook has been infected with a virus that aims to download malware onto users' computers.
Christmas malware emails on the prowl - 12.1.2008
Emails containing a link for an animated holiday card are an early present from malware attackers.
This year's unwanted Christmas presents - 11.28.2008
There will be a sharp rise in the number of phishing attacks and online fraud this Christmas, Dark Reading has warned.
