E-Business

The Case of Simultaneous, Short Duration DDoS Attacks

Published

10 years ago

May 5, 2015

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Over the last decade, DDoS attacks have proliferated, possibly becoming the primary threat for every website or web application.

The ultimate goal is to bring down sites by flooding them with fake requests, usually from multiple locations. The outcome of such attacks ranges from slow page loads to blocking legitimate traffic.

Among the thousands of DDoS attacks that happen every day, you’ll find attacks that last a number of days, as opposed to short-duration attacks that only take a few minutes for attackers to coordinate and launch at a time.

These attacks are becoming much more commonplace, whether the goal is to take a site down or if they’re used as a smokescreen to divert site owners’ attention.

In this article, I would like to share our real life experience with short-duration DDoS attacks, addressing what happens when this type of attack targets multiple sites simultaneously.

5 Short Attacks in 3 Days
We recently witnessed a three day, continuous attack that targeted two domains of a well-known bank.

On the first day, the bank suffered a significant volumetric attack that lasted five to six minutes, but consumed bandwidth at a rate of dozens of gigabytes per second.

Another attack, that lasted fifteen minutes, took place on the second day, targeting the second domain of the bank. On the third day, the same domain that was targeted the previous day was hit with a long duration attack.

We could see that the first and second attacks were reconnaissance attacks, executed to evaluate which of the two domains was more vulnerable. It is clear that the second domain was more susceptible since it was hit much harder in the third attack.

In parallel, we detected that there was another short-duration spike attack that targeted one of our Telco customers.

Just two hours later, there was another attack against a large utility organization. Because of this pattern, we were able to identify that all three attacks were performed by the same attacker and could warn and better protect our customers against further attacks.

Comparing the volume of bandwidth we’ve encountered on the first day of the attacks, to a DDoS attack’s average peak size of 7.39 Gbps, as reported by SCMagazine, we can see that short-duration attacks use large volumes of traffic in short, shotgun-like bursts.

Attackers leverage these short-duration attacks to evaluate which companies and organizations are easiest to infiltrate.

We assume that this also has to do with the availability of resources. These types of attacks are more likely to come from smaller, private groups that are shorter on resources, as opposed to criminal groups or countries which have access to unlimited resources and can therefore launch long-duration attacks from day-one.

Here’s what we’ve seen over time:

Mitigation
When it comes to short-burst attacks, time is of the essence. Attacks are likely to go under the radar and leave no time to respond.

Organizations managing multiple web domains must have the ability to centralize incoming data, preferably by working with the same security vendor across all their domains.

This enables them to predict attacks by analyzing trends and patterns across their sites. Organizations should demand this capability from their security vendors, who should also be willing to use data from various customers in order to predict potential attacks on other customers, as described in the above case study.

We see a growing number of short duration attacks across our customer base. Awareness to this new pattern is key: customers typically assume that the attack is over, while this may actually be a sign for a much larger attack coming through.

In light of this new pattern using services and tools that can aggregate attack information across customers and websites is an ideal way to predict and avoid the massive DDoS attacks about to come.

Yariv Hazony is VP Product at Sentrix, which provides protection against DDOS and other attacks against web applications, www.sentrix.com

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E-Business

South Korea Joins List of Countries Banning DeepSeek over Security Concerns

Published

9 hours ago

February 18, 2025

Comms Week

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South Korean authorities have temporarily blocked new downloads of the DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) app, citing concerns over the company’s handling of user data.

South Korea Joins List of Countries Banning DeepSeek over Security Concerns

The country’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) announced the decision on Monday, saying that the Chinese AI startup had failed to fully comply with South Korea’s data protection laws.

According to PIPC, DeepSeek recently appointed legal representatives in South Korea and admitted to partially neglecting regulatory considerations regarding user privacy.

“The Chinese startup appointed legal representatives last week in South Korea and had acknowledged partially neglecting considerations of the country’s data protection law,” the PIPC said.

The commission added that the app’s service would resume once the company implements improvements in accordance with national privacy laws.

According to Reuters, when asked about South Korea’s move, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said the Chinese government prioritises data privacy and security, ensuring compliance with legal standards.

The spokesperson also said China does not require companies or individuals to collect or store data in violation of laws.

The ban follows similar actions by other governments.

On February 4, Australia prohibited the use of DeepSeek on government devices due to security concerns.

Italy’s privacy regulator recently blocked the AI service, citing the company’s failure to address data policy issues.

Taiwan has also warned about potential risks related to cross-border data transmission and information leaks.

Also, regulators in Ireland and France have launched investigations into DeepSeek’s data-handling practices.

DeepSeek gained global adoption for its advanced human-like reasoning capabilities and open-source model.

In January, it surpassed OpenAI’s Chatgpt as the most downloaded free app on the Apple store.

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E-Business

AU Endorses Nigeria as AfCFTA Digital Trade Champion

Published

9 hours ago

February 18, 2025

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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The African Union (AU) has officially designated Nigeria as the Digital Trade Champion under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Digital Trade Protocol, citing the country’s leadership in digital enterprise and innovation.

The endorsement came at the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, which concluded on Sunday in Addis Ababa.

Nigeria’s proactive role in advancing the digital trade protocol, adopted in February 2024, was a key factor in the decision.

The AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol encompasses eight annexes covering crucial areas such as rules of origin, digital identities, cross-border data transfers, online safety, and financial technology. The protocol is expected to provide a robust framework for Africa’s digital economy.

According to a statement issued on Monday by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, former President of Niger Republic and AU AfCFTA Champion, Mahamadou Issoufou, praised Nigeria’s leadership, particularly for convening the Digital Economy Roundtable in January.

“No organization, region, or continent has negotiated or adopted such a comprehensive legal instrument on digital trade, positioning the African continent to benefit from the digital economy for innovation and job creation,” Issoufou said in his progress report to the AU Assembly.

He also highlighted Africa’s growing influence in digital innovation, particularly in mobile banking and financial technology, and noted that the protocol would create an enabling environment for young African entrepreneurs.

“The AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade will establish a conducive environment for these young people to fully participate in Africa’s digital economy,” Issoufou added.

Reflecting on the roundtable in Abuja, he commended President Bola Tinubu and his administration for facilitating discussions with key stakeholders.

“The Roundtable was attended by young pioneers in Fintech, mobile banking and other areas of the digital economy. It was evident from the discussions that young people are eager to take advantage of Africa’s digital economy through the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade”, he said.

Speaking at the AU summit, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, described the AU’s endorsement as a milestone in Africa’s economic development.

“Africa has demonstrated global leadership by pioneering the first-of-its-kind AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade—establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework,” Dr. Oduwole stated.

She emphasized that the protocol is a “game changer” for the continent, predicting that it would generate millions of jobs, contribute billions to Africa’s GDP, and attract significant investments in digital infrastructure.

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E-Business

Schmidt, Ex Google Chief Says AI Risky in Terrorist Hands

Published

4 days ago

February 14, 2025

Comms Week

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO

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Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO has expressed concerns about the extreme risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI) falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue states.

Schmidt, Ex Google Chief Says AI Risky in Terrorist Hands

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO

He warned that nations such as North Korea, Iran, and Russia could adopt AI technologies to develop weapons capable of causing significant harm, including biological weapons.

Schmidt urged governments to oversee private tech companies, emphasising, “The real fears I have are not the ones most people discuss about AI, I talk about extreme risk.”

“I’m always worried about an ‘Osama Bin Laden’ scenario, where truly evil individuals take control of some aspect of modern life to harm innocent people,” he added.

With private companies driving AI advancements, he stressed the need for careful government monitoring and regulation. “It’s really important that governments understand what we’re doing and keep their eye on us,” he said.

His remarks followed a two-day AI summit in Paris, where the UK and the U.S. declined to sign a communiqué outlining the future direction of AI. The declaration on “inclusive and sustainable artificial intelligence for people and the planet” was endorsed by 57 countries, including India, China, the Vatican, the EU, and the African Union Commission.

The UK justified its decision, stating that the agreement lacked “practical clarity” on global AI governance and national security concerns.

Schmidt supports U.S. export controls restricting the sale of advanced AI microchips to certain countries, aiming to slow adversaries’ progress in AI research.

He also highlights the importance of international collaboration on AI safety, suggesting that cooperation with nations like China is essential to addressing global AI challenges.

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