- Akamai mitigated a new record-breaking DDoS attack against a Europen customer. The attackers originated from a previous campaign that took place in July.
- In a contrast to the July attack, this time the threat actors performed the attack against six data center locations from Europe to North America.
- Akamai informed that 99.8% of the hostile traffic was pre-mitigated due to a proactive defense strategy proceeded.
American cybersecurity, and cloud service company, Akamai has disclosed a new record-breaking denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that took place in Eastern Europe. The company reported a large DDoS attack at the end of last July and called it the largest attack at that time. Apparently, the recent incident has surpassed the previous one.
The victim was targetted 201 times
Akamai informed in a blog post that the company blocked the largest DDoS attack that targeted one of its European customers. The complex traffic peaked at 704.8 Mpps and it suggested that the same threat actor was behind it as the previous largest DDoS that hit the same victim. The below comparison of the two DDoS attacks shows while in July the number of cumulative attacks was 75, in September it jumped up to 201.
| July Attack | September Attack | |
| Peak pps | 659.6 Mpps | 704.8 Mpps |
| Cumulative Attacks | 75 | 201 |
| IPs Targeted | 512 | 1813 |
| Vector | UDP | UDP |
| Distribution | 1 location | 6 locations |
| Date of Attack | July 21, 2022 | September 12, 2022 |
| Top Scrubbing Locations | HKG, LON, TYO | HKG, TYO, LON |
Akamai also reports that due to previous attacks, the specific customer increased its defense security early on and shielded all its 12 data centers. This resulted in 99.8% of the latest hostile traffic being pre-mitigated. The attackers performed the DDoS campaign against six data center locations from Europe to North America. Akamai stated in the blog post;
« Prior to June 2022, this customer only saw attack traffic against its primary data center; however, they recognized the importance of a comprehensive defensive strategy early on, and onboarded their 12 remaining global data centers to the Prolexic platform for peace of mind. This proved highly fortuitous, as the attack campaign expanded unexpectedly, hitting six different global locations, from Europe to North America. »
After having those attacks and their mitigation, Akamai credits having a proactive DDoS mitigation strategy and platform in place as essential for shielding businesses from downtime and disruption. The company adds that a heavily distributed attack could drown a vulnerable security team in alerts, making it difficult to assess the severity and scope of the intrusion.