When a company’s servers and network are compromised by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, significant productivity and financial losses occur. Cyber security professionals from all around the world have begun to notice that laptops and computers are no longer the only sources of these attacks. DDoS attacks are now being launched from personal devices like smart phones and tablets.
Mobile botnets (that users unwittingly install on their devices) have been used to launch many of these threats. These malicious botnets are often disguised as normal applications, but once installed, they begin the DDoS attack automatically. This compromises not just the mobile device but also any corporate website or network to which it is connected.
Companies should work with a reputable cyber security provider, such as SEACOM Business, that offers a comprehensive solution against these threats. SEACOM’s DDoS Protect service is an automated solution that is continuously backed by global threat intelligence.
DDoS attacks increasingly target cell phones
500 000 cell phones are estimated to have been the source of DDoS attacks in the last few months alone. This demonstrates that the threat posed by personal mobile devices is serious to corporate IT networks. These new botnets serve as proof that cyber criminals are improving their methods in order to achieve better results.
DDoS attacks are launched to cripple a company’s network or website by inundating the servers with fake traffic. This makes it impossible for employees and customers to access the company website, network, online store, or mobile application. This results in a major loss in revenue and productivity.
Features of a mobile botnet DDoS attack
According to recent statistics, about 60% of the affected devices run the Android operating system and 40% are iOS devices. Millions of requests per second to a company network can be made by infected mobile devices in a single second.
In light of the fact that mobile DDoS attacks have been reported from more than 160 countries worldwide, it is essential for all businesses to take the appropriate precautions to safeguard their servers, websites and digital systems.
Traditional mitigation methods are no longer effective enough
Blacklisting and rate-limiting were typically effective strategies for reducing fake requests coming from a DDoS source. However, now that mobile devices are being used, the sources become far more omnipresent.
Even though the frequency of traffic requests from a single infected phone is low, the cumulative number of requests can exceed that of a computer-based attack. An attacker can use this to their advantage by not triggering the per-device rate limit on a server.
Blacklisting and rate limiting are no longer sufficient for protecting business networks from attacks. An intelligent DDoS protection system that uses machine learning to automate responses and update its protocols is what is required.
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