Comptel Plus (Spring 2015) - Day 2 Show Daily

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Beka Publishing, COMPTELPLUS | Tuesday, April 14, 2015 29
DAY 2
Arecent report by the Ponemon Institute
found that companies surveyed in its
study reported an average $1.5 million in
costs related to denial-of-service attacks
during the past year. The study also said the number
one consequence of these attacks was reputational
damage, followed by diminished productivity for the
IT staff and revenue losses.
Among denial-of-service attacks, the threat of
distributed denial of service (DDoS) was rated as one
of the top three security threats, along with zero-day
attacks and malware. A DDoS attack is an attempt to
make a network resource unavailable by interrupting or
suspending services of a host connected to the Internet.
DDoS attacks can strike at any time, poten-
tially crippling network infrastructure and severely
degrading user experience. Depending on the type and
severity of an attack, the impact can result in resource
damages, lost revenue, decreased productivity and
irreparable harm to a company’s brand.
Any organization with an online presence is a
potential target for a DDoS attack, yet many organiza-
tions have inadequate security strategies to defend
against such a threat.
Early DDoS attacks were focused primarily on
flooding network resources with unwanted traffic
so that legitimate traffic would be unable to reach
the intended target. More recently, application layer
attacks designed to compromise a specific service on
a host have become more prevalent.
Because application layer attack traffic looks similar
to legitimate traffic, traditional security measures, such
as filtering, firewalls and intrusion prevention systems
or intrusion defense systems are not sufficient.
In addition, attackers are learning from the
defending countermeasures and are adjusting their
attacks toward other targets and vulnerabilities.
The motivations of attackers can range from social
and political protests to financial extortion with the
intent to disrupt governments, organizations or busi-
nesses and cause financial or reputational harm. In
many cases DDoS attacks are meant to cover other
crimes, such as property, fund or data thefts.
Recent political instability and unrest in Africa, the
Middle East and the Ukraine saw corresponding spikes in
DDoS attacks on regional businesses and governments.
Websites dedicated to reporting abuses or censorship
have become targets of DDoS attacks as well.
Internet-centric businesses, online retailers and
e-commerce websites are especially vulnerable, even
if they have some DDoS mitigation tools in place.
However, insufficient budget resources, shortage of
qualified personnel and lack of C-level support remain
critical barriers to preventing and mitigating attacks,
the Ponemon Institute report found.
No single defense strategy to defend against today’s
sophisticated and evolving DDoS threat landscape
exists. Instead, a layered defense approach is recom-
mended that combines traditional security measures,
vast availability of bandwidth, intelligent DDoS mitiga-
tion systems and sound risk management strategies.
Recognizing the ongoing and increasing threats
from DDoS attacks, NTT Communications (NTT
Com) has deployed technologies to help mitigate
these threats. Built on industry-leading DDoS
protection platforms, NTT Com’s global Tier 1 IP
network and around-the-clock expert monitoring
services, NTT Com’s DDoS protection service allows
for fast and effective actions to minimize the
impact of a DDoS attack.
When notified of a possible attack, NTT Com’s
network security team analyzes key network data to
confirm whether an attack is in progress and then
rapidly re-directs incoming traffic through its mitiga-
tion platform. The DDoS protection service platform
is built on best-of-breed technology, which removes
attack traffic and passes legitimate “clean” traffic
onto a network, allowing businesses to stay online
and function during the attack. ❏
For information about DDoS attack protection, visit
.
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MAR15 11166 WRIGHTS
As DDoS Attacks Increase, NTT Com Excels