Corero Network Security, a provider of security solutions combating distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, has announced the findings of its Trends and Analysis Report for the first half of 2015.

Analysing customer data, Corero found that attackers are continuing to leverage sub-saturating DDoS attacks with increasing frequency, using shorter attack durations to evade legacy cloud DDoS scrubbing solutions to cause network disruptions and, in some cases, distract victims while other malware infiltrates networks and steals customer information and corporate data.

According to the report, in the first half of the year, the vast majority of the attacks that Corero protected its global customer base against were less than 1 gbps. Additionally, more than 95% of the attacks combated by Corero lasted 30 minutes or less. As attackers look for new ways to leverage DDoS attacks, they have realised that short duration sub-saturating attacks are more difficult to defeat, particularly in carrier or service provider network environments that leverage coarse sampling detection techniques and centralised scrubbing centres.

Corero also observed that the DDoS attacks targeting its customers in the first three months of 2015 remained relatively consistent from the previous quarter, averaging three attacks per day. The daily attack volume increased in the second quarter to an average of 4.5 attacks. The increasing use of DDoS attacks by malicious actors can be attributed to the ease in purchasing and launching DDoS attack tools, and the ability to leverage these attacks as part of a larger strategy.

Dave Larson, CTO and vice president product, Corero Network Security

Dave Larson, CTO and vice president, product, Corero Network Security,said: “Attackers are continuing to leverage DDoS attacks as part of their cyber threat arsenal to either disrupt business operations or access sensitive corporate information, and they’re doing it in increasingly creative ways that circumvent traditional security solutions or nullify the previous effectiveness of scrubbing centres. In order to effectively protect their networks, prevent disruptions to customer operations, and better protect against data theft and financial loss, companies need real-time visibility and mitigation of all DDoS attack traffic targeting their networks, regardless of size or duration.”

Corero also surveyed enterprises about DDoS mitigation strategies and the role that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should play in defending against these attacks. The company found:

• A significant majority of respondents are relying on traditional security infrastructure products such as firewalls, intrusion prevention systems and load balancers, which are inadequately equipped to deal with this problem.
• Approximately 75% of the respondents indicated that they would like their ISP to provide additional security services to eliminate DDoS traffic from entering their networks.
• More than half of respondents are willing to pay for a premium service offering to eliminate these attacks from their environment.

“As companies continue to combat the increasing onslaught of cyber-attacks, including DDoS, they are turning to their service providers to aid them.Carriers are in a unique position to effectively eliminate the impact of DDoS attacks on their customers by surgically removing the attack traffic transiting their networks. This type of DDoS protection as a service is in high demand among enterprise customers.” continued Dave Larson.