Page 18 - Cyber Warnings

It's A Trap! Preparing For Smokescreen DDoS Attacks

Rene Paap, Product Marketing Manager, A10 Networks

The threat landscape is more complex than ever, and establishing a cybersecurity strategy in
2016 entails accounting for a number of different factors. Hackers will employ a variety of
techniques to achieve their goals.

In order to establish a viable defense, enterprises and VARs must select the necessary
technology for countering different forms of attacks.

One of the most prevalent methods used by cybercriminals is the distributed denial of
service (DDoS) attack. This form of attack generates massive amounts of malicious network
traffic — usually via networks of infected devices controlled by a single user.

Due to the highly visible repercussions of DDoS attacks, they are carried out for a large number
of reasons, including political activism, financial gain, and even ransom. DDoS attacks are
becoming an increasingly popular tool in the cybercrime arsenal, and a 2015 Akamai report
shows that DDoS attacks increased by 132 percent compared to Q2 2014.

In addition, a 2015 Verisign report found that attack sizes increased by 52 percent from the first
to the second quarter, meaning not only are more attacks happening, but they are becoming
more severe.

DDoS attacks can range in terms of severity, partially due to the low technical barriers posed to
individuals carrying them out. One such popular method is via Web services that allow
customers to rent, in a DDoS-as-a-Service manner, the computing power necessary to generate
sufficient Web traffic — meaning anyone with a credit card could carry out an attack.

Despite being easy to pull off, DDoS attacks are still employed by the most advanced hackers
and cybercriminals. In the right hands, the ability to disrupt a target’s networks and bring down
critical systems is a means to a larger end, typically a network intrusion.

In these instances, the DDoS attack acts as a smokescreen, diverting IT assets and attention
away from typical security processes.

These types of attacks leave the network vulnerable, as it becomes easier to dismiss atypical
activity as a false positive, in hopes of buying more time to deal with returning the network to
business as usual.

Hackers take advantage of this distraction and in quick succession carry out subsequent
attacks, often planting advance persistent threats (APTs) on the network or stealing valuable
data.

18 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – May 2016 Edition
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