The new Q1 2015 State of the Internet – Security Report has been released and it has some very interesting items that marketers should be aware of. One of the biggest items in the report is concerning the ongoing threat of DDoS attacks. DDoS attacks are a fairly simple type of web attack where a network of computer systems all direct lots of traffic at a single web server, which overwhelms it and causes it to become unavailable for legit traffic.
It takes quite a large ‘bot net’ of computers attacking one system to cause a lot of damage, but thanks to millions of infected websites, this is not uncommon. There are many ways that hosting companies can block this traffic and avoid problems, but with the growing popularity of IPv6, some of these methods are becoming less and less effective.
The report touches on the number of application layer DDoS attacks, which can be harder to stop as well. It also highlights some specific DDoS attacks that took place in the last quarter. These attacks were highlighted because of the fact that they were sending 100 Gigs or more of traffic to their victim every second. This level of attack is difficult to mitigate, even for large companies with sophisticated internet security in place.
While DDoS attacks themselves only really serve to take a site offline for a time, they can also be a distraction while other types of attacks are taking place. If you aren’t aware of your level of DDoS protection, make sure to take some time to reach out to your hosting company to see what systems they have in place.
If you are interested in reading the entire report, it can be downloaded from the State of the Internet website, HERE.