Carriers see DDoS attacks as a huge concern in 2017 says new report
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Carriers see DDoS attacks as a huge concern in 2017 says new report

DDoS attacks are a greater security threat to businesses in 2017 than ever before says a new survey from Corero.

DDoS attacks are a greater security threat to businesses in 2017 than ever before, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and network operators need to respond says a new survey of IT security professionals and network operators released today from Corero Network Security.

This year’s survey found that the majority (56%) of the respondents view DDoS attacks as greater, graver and growing concern in 2017 – even more so than in previous years.

This elevation of risk comes at a time when DDoS attacks have continued to increase in frequency, scale and sophistication over the last year. Hawaiian Telcom announced only last week that it has enhanced its already comprehensive range of Managed Network Security Services with a new cloud-based solution called Secure Internet Protection that safeguards businesses against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Hawaiian Telcom said that DDoS attacks have surged 125% over the last year. One attack has the potential to financially destroy a business that does not have proper defences if the attack comes at critical time for the business.

Over 31% of IT security professionals and network operators polled in this year’s survey experienced more DDoS attacks than usual in recent months, with 40% now experiencing attacks on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis. To alleviate this problem, 85% are demanding additional help from their ISPs to block DDoS traffic before it reaches them.

Rob Ayoub, Research Director at IDC said: “Organisations that once had DDoS protection projects on the back burner are now re-prioritising their security strategies to place DDoS mitigation at the forefront in 2017. As new, large-scale attacks have come online leveraging IoT devices, the DDoS threat has become top of mind for CISOs. This shift in precedence puts increased pressure on Internet and cloud providers to enable this protection for their customers, and eliminate DDoS threats closer to the source.”

Ashley Stephenson, CEO at Corero Network Security, said, “ISPs have long carried the burden of defending their own network against DDoS attacks, but as the threat landscape has changed, so must their response. Providers will likely find themselves at an important crossroads during the next year, as pressure builds on them from both customers and governments to address the growing DDoS problem. By accepting a greater responsibility for defending their customers and networks against DDoS attacks, ISPs could modernise their security service offerings and increase customer satisfaction – in contrast, ignoring this call to action could open up the possibility of future regulatory controls related to DDoS protection." 

The Corero study found that a worrying 58 percent of security professionals are still relying on ‘home grown’ open source solutions, or traditional security infrastructure like firewalls, to protect themselves against DDoS attacks. Just more than a third (36 percent) are adopting cloud-based solutions, including scrubbing centers, and an additional 35 percent are using on-premises DDoS mitigation products. 


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