Latin America. Following the string of Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that took place last weekend, A10 Networks (NYSE: ATEN), a leader in application networking and security technology, has echoed this news that has shaken the foundations of the Internet.
Indeed, last Friday saw a wave of DDoS attacks against DYN, a major DNS provider that serves companies such as Twitter, Netflix, Reddit or Spotify. Taking advantage of the insecurity present in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the attack took place in several phases, and used devices infected with malware, such as IP cameras and video recording equipment (DVRs) to launch much of the attack traffic, leaving these and many other websites without service or with problems to offer it.
The attack, which caused problems mainly on the East Coast of the United States, was later felt in other parts of the world as well. The U.S. government is still investigating the origin of the intrusions, the authorship of which is unknown.
A new trend in DDoS attacks
This type of DDoS attack, like the one experienced last Friday, is a novelty, due to the fact that threat agents do not target individual organizations or services, but rather the virtual infrastructure that makes many of these application services possible.
"This is a new twist for an old attack, or how bad guys are finding new and innovative ways to cause further discontent," said Chase Cunningham, Director of Cyber Operations at A10 Networks. "It's been quite interesting to see how criminals are moving forward to launch DDoS attacks against DNS providers, rather than focusing solely on sites or applications."
Security researchers have warned that improperly secured IoT devices are frequently used to launch DDoS attacks, given the ease with which basic security controls can be circumvented and added to a botnet, which will later be used to project an attack of these characteristics.
"Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the insecurity present in IoT devices to launch some of the largest DDoS attacks in history," adds Chase Cunningham. "The immediate solution is because manufacturers do not allow the use of preset passwords or simple key to access and manage smart or connected devices. The adoption of this procedure will be complicated, but this change is fundamental for the greater security of all. This response will hinder many of the global botnets that are created and deployed for malicious use."
In addition to these security tips, A10 Networks can help protect networks and applications from DDoS attacks originating from IoT.
Most standard DDoS mitigation and protection solutions have limited capacity in terms of the capacity they can absorb. Application-level DDoS protection comes standard on Thunder ADC appliances, while Thunder TPS offers advanced DDoS mitigation and detection at the edge of the network, acting as a first line of defense for network infrastructure. In both cases, don't forget about DNS to only focus on the network and applications. The DNS is critical, and true GPS of the Internet.
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