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Prolexic Quarterly DDoS Attack Report: Q3 2013 Selected excerpts

Q3 is typically one of the quieter quarters for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. However, it would be wrong to conclude that Q3 2013 was uneventful, as there was a clear shift in attack methodologies during the quarter and some notable attacks directed at Prolexic’s global client base.

The key trend this quarter was the significant rise in Distributed Reflection Denial of Service (DrDoS) attacks. The adoption of reflection-based attack vectors increased 70 percent compared to the previous quarter, and 265 percent when compared to the same quarter a year ago. Average attack duration declined considerably in Q3, which can be attributed in part to the increasing number of reflection attacks, which are typically shorter (download the full report).

Q3 2013 set a record for the number of attacks directed against Prolexic’s global client base. The increase was inconsequential (1.58 percent), but illustrates a consistently heightened level of global DDoS attack activity.

Infrastructure attacks represented three quarters of DDoS attacks against Prolexic's clients in Q3 2013, while application layer attacks represented one quarter of all attacks, as shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1: Relative popularity of DDoS attack vectors in Q3 2013

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Figure 2 reveals sources of DDoS attack traffic. China was by far the main source of DDoS attacks during Q3 2013, accounting for 62 percent of attacks. Next were the U.S., the Republic of Korea, Brazil, and Russia, each generating less than 10 percent of attack traffic.

Figure 2: Source countries for DDoS attacks in Q3 2013

Get the Q3 2013 Global Attack Report

The full Prolexic attack reports reveals:

• Analysis of DDoS attack trends • Year-over-year and quarter-by-quarter comparisons • Types of attacks used • Network protocols at risk for abuse by attackers • Geographic distribution of sources • Details about real attack campaigns mitigated by Prolexic this quarter • Special report: DDoS attack tools and the underground marketplace

The more you know about DDoS attacks, the better you can protect your network against cybercrime. Download the free attack report at www.prolexic.com/attackreports.

About Prolexic Prolexic Technologies is the world’s largest and most trusted provider of DDoS protection and mitigation services. Learn more at www.prolexic.com.