Mid-2018 DDoS Attack Trends: Record-Breaking Attacks, Familiar Tricks, and Emerging Tactics

As of mid-2018, attackers showed that they have no intentions of slowing their relentless development of new attack techniques, as evidenced by a re-discovered tactic of abusing open source protocols to create diffraction attacks that bypass static detection rules. This is a known but rare tactic that challenges traditional detection methods, and demands new product innovation. On the other hand, classic attack techniques helped to generate new record-breaking attacks in 2018, once again raising doubts about the fundamental stability of the internet.

This paper will analyze the latest developments in the realm of DDoS attacks, including emerging diffraction-based attacks and massive scale attacks. Beyond attack techniques, familiar and less-so, this insight also evaluates the implications of these attacks for vendors and their customers.