#EdgeLive: Defending Against the Growing Threat of DDoS Attacks

The prevalence and sophistication of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks has grown substantially this year, and this trend was discussed during a panel session at the Akamai Edge Live virtual conference.

Roger Barranco, VP, global services at Akamai, firstly emphasized how this year has been “record-breaking” for DDoS campaigns: “Not only did we see huge attacks, we also saw some really interesting campaigns,” he noted.

The panel highlighted why the tactic of DDoS is simultaneously attractive to cyber-villains and a cause of major problems for organizations. Lisa Beegle, director, information security, Akamai, commented: “It’s an attacker’s toolkit staple. It’s tried and true, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.”

For organizations on the receiving end, it’s not only draining on resources to deal with such a relentless form of attack, but it often leads to negative publicity. “If you have a DDoS event and you are down and off the internet, you’re going to end up on the news,” observed Matthew Mosher, regional sales director at Akamai.

The primary reason for the rise in DDoS campaigns has been the sudden shift to remote working that many organizations have had to undertake due to COVID-19, according to Beegle. The lack of preparedness for such a scenario has made businesses extra vulnerable to this tactic. In addition, there are more threat actors now who have more time on their hands, enabling them to “do their due diligence so they’re able to facilitate activity and pivot as they need to.”

She added: “I think this year it has become much more aggressive and I do think the state o ..

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