Massive app-layer attacks could defeat hybrid DDoS protection

Security researchers have recently observed a large application-layer distributed denial-of-service attack using a new technique that could foil DDoS defenses and be a sign of things to come for Web application operators.

The attack, which targeted a Chinese lottery website that used DDoS protection services from Imperva, peaked at 8.7Gbps. In a time when DDoS attacks frequently pass the 100Gbps mark, 8.7Gbps might not seem much, but it's actually unprecedented for application-layer attacks.

DDoS attacks target either the network layer or the application layer. With network-layer attacks, the goal is to send malicious packets over different network protocols in order to consume all of the target's available bandwidth, essentially clogging its Internet pipes.

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