A New Wave of DDoS Calls for more Security

With increasing DDoS attacks through AI and 5G, experts recommend the use of technology for security and research

There were 4.83 million DDoS attacks in the first half of 2020. Each hour of disruption caused a loss of up to $100k for every company. Studies reveal that the attacks on online resources will increase by 20 percent compared to last year.

With numbers growing exponentially, the industry witnesses the dawn of powerful tools that can help hackers with DDoS attacks. CDN and Akamai Technologies revealed the efficacy of yet another attack vector called Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) or protocol 33. This protocol was abused by threat actors to avoid security defenses of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) traffic flow.

Meanwhile, the development of 5G networks has also helped hackers attack with over 1 Gbps capacity from a smartphone. With hundreds of infected mobile phones and IoT devices, the industry will find it very difficult to eliminate the cyber menace.

Also Read: The Evolving Threat of DDoS Attacks and How to Stay Ahead

Experts warn enterprises that a variety of new DDoS attacks can be expected to target UDP as the protection of these applications are not very effective. These applications would include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and the Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) protocol that brands use to increase the speed of their web resources.

How to Stop DDoS Attacks

An A10 Networks report revealed a 12 percent increase of DDoS potential weapons on the internet, tallying the approximate total number up to 12.5 million. To keep the new possible threats at bay and ensure better DDoS response strategies, enterprises can set up several types of internet perimeter security solutions including antibots, Web Application Firewall (WAF), AntiDDoS, and Intrusion Detection System (IDS). 

Moreover, hackers have begun to use Artificial Intelligence to aggressively attack companies. They use intelligent technology to locate weak passwords and spread malware. On the bright side, enterprises can also use AI to stop these DDoS attacks. As it is getting difficult to differentiate between an attacking bot and a user, AI technologies can help protect online resources.

It is imperative that enterprises leverage big data into their security stack. Without it, the data generated from IoT botnets that execute DDoS hacks might become victims at a terabytes-per-second speed. With big data, enterprises can analyze and maintain logs of IPs that have already been under attack. What is interesting is that the APIs, through which big data functions, can not only help with the establishment of security policies but also allow adaptive responses. With their reports, they can form the fundamental base for adaptive evolution and keep threat detection in check.

Also Read: DDoS Attacks Rise – almost 5 million in the First-Half of 2020

Additionally, on the chances of on-premise hardware failing during the attack, companies are advised to partner with third-party DDoS mitigation platforms with cloud-based servers and higher bandwidth of resources.

With increasing digitization and cloud migration, even the smallest attack holds the capacity to destroy bigger business operations. The adaptation of AI, big data analytics, and cloud-based security solutions is crucial to hold the wall against cyber attackers. With such solutions that offer comprehensive insights apart from the IPs of attackers, enterprise leaders can get access to more data about routing information and network performance