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    A10 Networks Expands DDoS Prevention Portfolio

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    Data-Centric Approach Starves Data-Hungry Cybercriminals

    Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are becoming a major challenge because the entities that launch these attacks have access to more processing power than before. Using malware to infect thousands of endpoints, cybercriminals can launch more crippling DDoS attacks than ever.

    To help combat that threat, A10 Networks this week expanded its Thunder Threat Protection System (TPS) family of appliances to include virtual instances that can easily be deployed on multiple types of hypervisors, as well a new hardware platform capable of providing up to 300 Gbps mitigation throughput.

    Paul Nicholson, director of product marketing for A10 Networks, says cybercriminals can now more easily than ever assemble botnets to launch attacks that cripple Web applications.

    “Mobile devices and embedded systems are now being used to create very large botnets,” says Nicholson.

    In fact, a recent report from IDG Connect commissioned by A10 Networks finds that the average company suffers 15 DDoS attacks per year, with average attacks causing at least 17 hours of effective downtime, including slowdowns, denied customer access or crashes. Attacks are also getting harder to defend, with average peak bandwidths of 30 to 40 gigabits per second (Gbps), the report finds.

    As a result, Nicholson notes that cybercriminals are expanding the attacks they launch to include smaller organizations or remote branch offices. The virtual instance of TPS provides a more affordable means for smaller organizations to defend themselves.

    It may be difficult to assess where DDoS attacks now rank in the pantheon of IT security issues that IT organizations have to contend with every day. But there’s also no doubt that they are on the rise because there’s so much access to compute power. The result is yet one more IT security item IT organizations need to defend against in a world where cybercriminals don’t seem to get tired of employing techniques, no matter how old, in their never-ending efforts to compromise security.

    Mike Vizard
    Mike Vizard
    Michael Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist, with nearly 30 years of experience writing and editing about enterprise IT issues. He is a contributor to publications including Programmableweb, IT Business Edge, CIOinsight and UBM Tech. He formerly was editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise, where he launched the company’s custom content division, and has also served as editor in chief for CRN and InfoWorld. He also has held editorial positions at PC Week, Computerworld and Digital Review.

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