DDoS: Deceptive Denial Attacks

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are often quite unsophisticated, brute force attempts to disable a website or network by barraging it with traffic, but the damage they can do to victims can be considerable.

When it comes to DDoS attacks, it’s easy to get distracted by the record-breaking size of the latest attacks.  Like a strength tester fairground game, we are all mesmerised by the gigantic numbers involved as new DDoS attacks break previous records, such as the huge 470GBps attack on a Chinese gambling site earlier this year, or the reported 602GBps attack against the BBC last year.

But what do these numbers really mean? In truth, the increasingly sophisticated techniques that bad actors deploy are making the reported sizes of attacks increasingly redundant.

For example, amplification techniques can intensify the size of attacks and simultaneously mask the source of attack traffic. This means that a 100GBps attack with a small upscale of 10x could actually harness the same power as a terabit-sized attack, while a sub-saturating 2GBps attack which might not even be detected by your DDoS mitigation system could knock all your firewalls offline.

The vast majority of these attacks are less than five minutes in duration and under 1GBps in size. So why do they pose such a threat?

The truth is that hackers are using these small attacks to experiment with new techniques without being spotted by security teams. This is due to the fact that the majority of legacy DDoS mitigation tools can only be deployed out-of-band and are therefore limited to only inspecting events that cross certain bandwidth thresholds.

Additionally, since they rely on coarse sampling followed by traffic redirection, which takes time, these DDoS scrubbing solutions are only capable of investigating events of more than five minutes in duration, meaning that hackers can use short-lived and low-bandwidth attacks to trial the success of new techniques under the radar.

Once attackers have perfected their new methods in private, they can then wield enormous power by deploying these tactics at wide range. When executed, these strategies catch organisations on the back foot, because the techniques haven’t been seen before, security teams have not set up any firewall or DDoS protection rules to defend against them, and they are therefore left scrambling around trying to find a solution when an attack is already in place.

This is particularly concerning in light of the increased use of amplification techniques, which allow bad actors to intensify the size of their attacks, and to simultaneously mask the source of attack traffic.  Using this method, attackers typically spoof look-up requests to domain name system (DNS) servers to hide the source of an attack, and re-direct the response to their target.

By relaying the original request through a botnet, and utilising a high percentage of large packet fragments, an attacker can amplify the size of their attack to up to 100 times larger than its original size.

So how can organisations protect themselves?  

The first step to greater security is to familiarise yourself with the trends in the DDoS landscape and to start looking more closely at lower level activity within your environment.

Small-scale, sub-saturating DDoS attacks are truly the calm before the storm, and observing them in real-time is the best way to prepare your organisation from the plethora of new techniques that attackers are experimenting with.

Second, the most effective way to protect your organisation’s entire security infrastructure in the event of an attack is to have DDoS protection installed in-line, at the Internet edge.

This eliminates the need to manually analyze events and re-route traffic for cleaning, and ensures that the time from detection to mitigation of an attack shrinks to almost nothing. This type of protection can usually be purchased as-a-service through your Internet Service Provider, which allows customers to take advantage of the increased visibility of their entire network infrastructure.

Because it is always on, this type of automatic attack mitigation provides continuous visibility and forensics, and means that there is no need to resign ourselves to the ever-changing threat of DDoS attacks.

Information Age

 

« Internet of Insecure Things
Work Traveling - You’re a Prime Hacker Target »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

NordLayer

NordLayer

NordLayer is an adaptive network access security solution for modern businesses — from the world’s most trusted cybersecurity brand, Nord Security. 

Syxsense

Syxsense

Syxsense brings together endpoint management and security for greater efficiency and collaboration between IT management and security teams.

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR: What Is A Next-Generation Firewall (and why does it matter)?

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR: What Is A Next-Generation Firewall (and why does it matter)?

Watch this webinar to hear security experts from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and SANS break down the myths and realities of what an NGFW is, how to use one, and what it can do for your security posture.

ManageEngine

ManageEngine

As the IT management division of Zoho Corporation, ManageEngine prioritizes flexible solutions that work for all businesses, regardless of size or budget.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

Zadara Storage

Zadara Storage

Zadara provide complete data backup and protection delivered as a fully-managed service.

Cienaga Systems

Cienaga Systems

Cienaga Systems is a leader in autonomous cyber threat hunting technology.

Rogue Wave Software

Rogue Wave Software

At Rogue Wave, our mission is to simplify your hardest problems, improve software quality and security, and shorten the time it takes to deliver value.

ESL Bangladesh

ESL Bangladesh

ESL is the Largest IT Infrastructure & Telecom Service Provider in Bangladesh.

SWAT Systems

SWAT Systems

SWAT Systems is an IT support and cyber security managed service provider.

Verificient Technologies

Verificient Technologies

Verificient Technologies specializes in biometrics, computer vision, and machine learning to deliver world-class solutions in continuous identity verification and remote monitoring.

Ironhack

Ironhack

Ironhack provide intensive training courses & bootcamps in Web Development, UX/UI Design, Data Analytics & Cybersecurity.

ClosingLock

ClosingLock

ClosingLock is the leading provider of wire fraud prevention software for the real estate industry.

Aikido Technology Services

Aikido Technology Services

Aikido Technology Services is a leading-edge technology solutions provider, servicing the Pacific North West USA. We offer affordable IT solutions designed to streamline and secure your business.

PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC)

PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC)

The PCI Security Standards Council is a global forum that brings together payments industry stakeholders to develop and drive adoption of data security standards and resources for safe payments.

Lab 1

Lab 1

Lab 1 turns criminal data breaches and attacks into insights. Get alerts of data breaches or ransomware attack incidents as they happen.

SecureDNE

SecureDNE

SecureDNE are a leading provider of cutting-edge Fractional CISO, Managed Cybersecurity Services, and Cybersecurity Engineering Solutions.

Mindgard

Mindgard

The Mindgard Security Copilot platform secures your Artificial Intelligence, GenAI and LLMs.

Cork

Cork

Cork is a purpose-built cyber warranty company for managed service providers (MSPs) serving small businesses (SMBs) and the software solutions they manage.

Sonar

Sonar

AI generated or written by humans, Sonar’s Clean Code Solutions cover your code quality needs, improving code reliability, maintainability, and security.

M7 Services

M7 Services

M7 Services are a comprehensive Managed Services Provider (MSP) with a focus on delivering cutting-edge information technology solutions and unparalleled customer service.