Akamai, an internet infrastructure firm, revealed recently that they had been targeted by the largest denial-of-service attack to date. The attackers targeted specific websites hosted by Akamai with 1.44 terabit-per-second and 385 million packets-per-second attacks. Although Akamai did not offer details on the targeted sites, it did state that their cyber investigations and security operations teams believed that the attack was a statement, rather than an attempt to steal information or money.
The amount of data types used in the attack as well as signs of coordination suggests that the attackers are very knowledgeable and sophisticated. More than nine different types of traffic were used in the attack, while the typical DDoS attack uses two or three. The traffic surge also lasted an hour, while DDoS attacks are commonly measured in minutes.
Read More: Hosting Provider Hit With Largest-Ever DDoS Attack
