increasing | DDoSInfo – Information about DDoS and Denial of Service Attacks

Companies are not ready to protect themselves against DDoS, with four in ten (39%) businesses unclear about the most effective protection strategy to combat this type of attack, according to research from Kaspersky Lab. A lack of knowledge and protection is putting businesses at risk of grinding to a halt. DDoS attacks can quickly incapacitate a targeted business’s workflow, bringing business-critical processes to a stop. However, the research found that nearly a fifth (16%) of businesses are not protected from DDoS attacks at all, and half (49%) rely on built-in hardware for protection. This is not effective against the increasing number of large-scale attacks and ‘smart’ DDoS attacks which are hard to filter with standard methods. Large-scale cyberattacks are now commonplace, such as the recent attack on telecommunications provider StarHub, which faced a high-profile DDoS attack in October last year. Hackers are also showing a preference for DDoS attacks, with the proliferation of IoT devices today. As IoT devices have weak security protocols, they are easy targets for hackers to launch DDoS attacks from. As IoT devices are forecasted to hit 21 billion in 2020, each potential entry point into an organisation increases vulnerability to DDoS attacks. Many businesses are in fact aware that DDoS is a threat to them – of those that have anti-DDoS protection in place, a third (33%) said this was because risk assessments had identified DDoS as a potential problem, and one in five (18%) said they have been attacked in the past. For some, compliance, rather than awareness of the security threat, is the main driver, with almost half (43%) saying regulation is the reason they protect themselves. The problem for businesses is that, in many cases, they may assume they’re already protected. Almost half (40%) of the organizations surveyed fail to put measures in place because they think their Internet service provider will provide protection, and one in three (30%) think data center or infrastructure partners will protect them. This is also not always effective, because these organizations mostly protect businesses from large-scale or standard attacks, while ‘smart’ attacks, such as those using encryption or imitating user behavior, require an expert approach. Moreover, the survey found that a third (30%) fail to take action because they think they are unlikely to be targeted by DDoS attacks. Surprisingly, one in ten (12%) even admit to thinking that a small amount of downtime due to DDoS would not cause a major issue for the company. The reality is that any company can be targeted because such attacks are easy for cybercriminals to launch. What’s more, the potential cost to a victim can reach millions. “As we’ve seen with the recent attacks, DDoS is extremely disruptive, and on the rise,” says Kirill Ilganaev, Head of Kaspersky DDoS Protection at Kaspersky Lab. “When hackers launch a DDoS attack, the damage can be devastating for the business that’s being targeted because it disables a company’s online presence. As a result business workflow comes to a halt, mission-critical processes cannot be completed and reputations can be ruined. Online services and IT infrastructure are just too important to leave unguarded. That’s why specialized DDoS protection solution should be considered an essential part of any effective protection strategy in business today.” Source: http://www.networksasia.net/article/39-businesses-not-ready-protect-themselves-against-ddos.1486046674

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39% of businesses not ready to protect themselves against DDoS

As widely expected, the Census web site fell over last night — but the ABS has said it was with a little help from external players. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has continued its run of outs, scoring an own goal in the Census main event last night, after the agency claimed the site crashed thanks to four denial of service attacks. “The 2016 online Census form was subject to four Denial of Service attacks of varying nature & severity,” the ABS said on Twitterthis morning. “The first three caused minor disruption but more than 2 million Census forms were successfully submitted and safely stored. After the fourth attack, just after 7:30pm, the ABS took the precaution of closing down the system to ensure the integrity of the data.” “Steps have been taken during the night to remedy these issues, and we can reassure Australians that their data are secure at the ABS.” The agency said it would provide an update at 9am Wednesday. The ABS has launched a joint investigation with the nation’s defence intelligence agency into the assault, which ramped up on Tuesday evening as most of the population was going online to complete the survey. “It was an attack,” chief statistician David Kalisch told ABC radio on Wednesday. “It was quite clear it was malicious.” The source of the attacks is unknown but Kalisch said they came from overseas. On Tuesday, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that once the Census is completed, the Australian government needs to discuss with parliamentthe increasing retention of names and address data, and the reasons it is being kept. “I think we need to have a good, long look at the whole process to make sure we’re not asking for information we don’t need,” he said. “And to reassure ourselves that what information that is stored, is stored securely.” The Opposition Leader said politicians committed to boycotting the Census were grandstanding. The intrusions will put a spot light on the federal government’s AU$240 million cyber security strategy and the security of government resources online. The ABS confirmed last week that its IBM-developed online Census forms would not be able to handle names with accents or ligatures. The agency later removed a claim made by it that it was rated by the Australian National Audit Office as being in its “Cyber Secure Zone”. Source: http://www.zdnet.com/article/census-2016-site-falls-to-ddos-attack/

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Census 2016 site falls to DDoS attack: ABS