DDoS Attackers Switch Gears: Hit The Router, Not The Web Server
Written by Frank HayesNovember 17th, 2011
Distributed denial-of-service attacks on commercial Web sites have taken a nasty turn since last year: They're now throwing four times as many packets, and the type of packets are more likely to bring targeted sites to their knees. That's according to security vendor Prolexic Technologies, which on Thursday (Nov. 17) is slated to release a report that says since Q3 2010, attackers have shifted from attacks that aim at Web servers to those that target routers—a change that could require retailers to put up much stronger defenses against brute-force attacks.
It's hard enough defending against a botnet firing an endless stream of "show me your homepage" requests at an E-Commerce site. Retailers have already seen those attacks amped up to 50 times their previous level during a few days after Black Friday last year. But the new style of attack (so far aimed mainly at online gambling sites) is likely to require a lot more hardware to pick off nasty packets—and it's hardware that's only necessary until the attack ends, at which point it's very expensive bric-a-brac.
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