CenturyLink tracked 104 million unique botnet targets per day
in 2017
MONROE, Louisiana, April 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Businesses,
governments and consumers should pay more attention to the risk
posed by botnets, according to a new threat report released by
CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL).
Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8085056-centurylink-2018-threat-report/
In 2017, CenturyLink Threat Research Labs tracked an average of
195,000 threats per day impacting, on average, 104 million unique
targets – from servers and computers to handheld or other
internet-connected devices – due to the work of botnets.
"Botnets are one of the foundational tools bad actors rely on to
steal sensitive data and launch DDoS attacks," said Mike Benjamin, head of CenturyLink's Threat
Research Labs. "By analyzing global botnet attack trends and
methods, we're better able to anticipate and respond to emerging
threats in defense of our own network and those of our
customers."
Read the CenturyLink 2018 Threat Report:
http://lookbook.centurylink.com/threat-report.
Key Observations
- Geographies with strong or rapidly growing IT networks and
infrastructure continue to be the primary source for cybercriminal
activity.
-
- The top five European countries by volume of global malicious
internet traffic in 2017 were Russia, Ukraine, Germany, the
Netherlands and France.
- The top five European countries hosting the most command and
control servers (C2s), which amass and direct botnets, were
Russia, Ukraine, Germany, the
Netherlands and France.
- While countries and regions with robust communication
infrastructure unknowingly supplied bandwidth for IoT DDoS attacks,
they also represented some of the largest victims based on attack
command volume.
-
- The top five target countries of bot attack traffic were
the United States, China, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom.
- The top five European countries by volume of compromised hosts
or bots were the United Kingdom,
Germany, Russia, France and Italy.
- Mirai and its variants have been the focus of consistent news
coverage, but in 2017, CenturyLink Threat Research Labs witnessed
Gafgyt attacks affecting more victims and with noticeably longer
attack durations.
Key Facts
- CenturyLink collects 114 billion NetFlow records each day,
capturing over 1.3 billion security events daily and monitoring
5,000 known C2 servers on an ongoing basis.
- CenturyLink responds to and mitigates roughly 120 DDoS attacks
per day and removes nearly 40 C2 networks per month.
- The scope and depth of CenturyLink's threat awareness is
derived from its global IP backbone, one of the world's largest.
This critical infrastructure supports CenturyLink's global
operations and informs its comprehensive suite of security
solutions, including threat detection, secure log monitoring, DDoS
mitigation and network-based security solutions.
Additional Resources
- Hear Mike Benjamin's key
takeaways from the CenturyLink 2018 Threat Report:
https://youtu.be/3U1aIJqejjs
- Learn how CenturyLink takes cyber intelligence to the next
level with expanded view of threatscape:
http://news.centurylink.com/2018-04-03-CenturyLink-takes-cyber-intelligence-to-the-next-level-with-expanded-view-of-threatscape
- Explore IDC's report: Securing the Connected Enterprise Using
Network-Based Security:
http://idcdocserv.com/US43638618
About CenturyLink
CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is the
second largest U.S. communications provider to global enterprise
customers. With customers in more than 60 countries and an intense
focus on the customer experience, CenturyLink strives to be the
world's best networking company by solving customers' increased
demand for reliable and secure connections. The company also serves
as its customers' trusted partner, helping them manage increased
network and IT complexity and providing managed network and cyber
security solutions that help protect their business.
Media Contact:
Stephanie
Walkenshaw
+1 720-888-3084
stephanie.walkenshaw@centurylink.com
Logo -
http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/325657/centurylink_logo.jpg