Akamai Technologies released its Second Quarter, 2016 State of the Internet / Security Report. The report, using data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Platform, highlights the cloud security landscape, specifically trends with DDoS and web application attacks, as well as malicious traffic from bots.
“While attack sizes are decreasing, we continue to see an uptick in the number of attacks as launch tools grow increasingly pervasive and easy to use and monetize,” said Martin McKeay, Editor-in-Chief, State of the Internet / Security Report. “This commoditization renders businesses vulnerable to a higher frequency of attacks they can’t defend against on their own. As we look toward Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October, it is important for organizations to understand what they are up against, specifically as adversaries increasingly threaten DDoS attacks for ransom.”
Highlights from Akamai’s Second Quarter, 2016 State of the Internet / Security Report include: Total DDoS attacks increased 129 percent in Q2 2016 from Q2 2015. During the second quarter, Akamai mitigated a total of 4,919 DDoS attacks. Twelve attacks observed during Q2 exceeded 100 Gbps and two that reached 300 Gbps targeted the media and entertainment industry. Q2 2016 showed a 14 percent increase in total web application attacks from Q1 2016. SQL Injection (44 percent) and Local File Inclusion (45 percent) were the two most common attack vectors in Q2. During one 24-hour period in Q2, bots accounted for 43 percent of all web traffic across the Akamai Intelligent Platform.