akamai.com
[Q4 2014 ]
• 90% increase in total DDoS attacks
• 54% decrease in average attack bandwidth
• 121% increase in infrastructure layer attacks
• 16% decrease in application (Layer 7) attacks
• 31% increase in average attack duration
• 38% increase in multi-vector attacks
[Download the Q4 2014 Global DDoS Attack Report for
supporting data and analysis]
= compared to [Q3 2014]
2 / [The State of the Internet] / Security (Q4 2014)
= multi-vector campaigns compared to [Q4 2013]
3 / [The State of the Internet] / Security (Q4 2014)
Figure1:Whilethenumberofmulti-vectorattackshassurgedthepasttwoquarters,thepercentageofmulti-
vectorcampaignshascontinuedtohoveraroundthe50percentmark
46.24
53.26
44.14
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Q4 2013 Q3 2014 Q4 2014
= peak bandwidth compared to [Q4 2013]
4 / [The State of the Internet] / Security (Q4 2014)
Figure2:Averagepeakbandwidthhasdroppedsincelastquarter,butremainshigherthanitwasayearago
4.21
13.93
6.41
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Q42013 Q32014 Q42014
= distribution of DDoS attack vectors
5 / [The State of the Internet] / Security (Q4 2014)
Figure3:InfrastructureattacksremainedpopularinQ4,makingupnearly90percentofallattackvectors
• In late November 2014, a new attack vector, XMAS-DDoS with
Christmas tree packets, was observed for the first time.
/ This vector is featured in the Attack Spotlight of the Q4 2014 Security Report.
• Compared to Q3, SSDP accounted for a significant 214 percent
increase in number of attacks
/ SSDP was a newly observed attack in Q3
/ In Q4 2014, Akamai mitigated a 106 Gpbs SSDP-only DDoS attack
• NTP reflection increased by 181 percent compared to Q3, an indicator of
the larger number of DDoS attacks overall in Q4
/ DDoS-for-hire sites, a market with growing momentum, were a source for NTP
reflection attacks this quarter
= comparison of attack vectors since Q4 [2013]
6 / [The State of the Internet] / Security (Q4 2014)
= targeted industries
7 / [The State of the Internet] / Security (Q4 2014)
Figure4:ThegamingindustryborethebruntofDDoSattacksinQ4,drivenbyasurgeinattackactivityattheend
ofDecember
= total attacks per week [Q4 2014 vs Q4 2013]
8 / [The State of the Internet] / Security (Q4 2014)
Figure5:WeeklyDDoSattackssurgedinDecember2014comparedtoDecember2013,fueledbyattacksinthe
gamingindustry
• Download the Q4 2014 State of the Internet Security Report
• The Q4 2014 report covers:
/ Analysis of DDoS attack trends
/ Breakdown of average Gbps/Mbps statistics
/ Year-over-year and quarter-by-quarter analysis
/ Types and frequency of application-layer attacks
/ Types and frequency of infrastructure attacks
/ Trends in attack frequency, size and sources
/ Where and when DDoSers launch attacks
/ Case study and analysis
= Q4 2014 global attack report
9 / [The State of the Internet] / Security (Q4 2014)
• StateoftheInternet.com, brought to you by Akamai, serves as the home for
content and information intended to provide an informed view into online
connectivity and cybersecurity trends as well as related metrics, including
Internet connection speeds, broadband adoption, mobile usage, outages,
and cyber-attacks and threats.
• Visitors to www.stateoftheinternet.com can find current and archived
versions of Akamai’s State of the Internet (Connectivity and Security)
reports, the company’s data visualizations, and other resources designed to
put context around the ever-changing Internet landscape.
= about stateoftheinternet.com
10 / [The State of the Internet] / Security (Q4 2014)