LAS VEGAS, Oct. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Edge
2017 -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the world's
largest and most trusted cloud delivery platform, today announced
results of new research into the behavior of a malicious botnet
employing Fast Flux techniques. The findings are compiled in a new
white paper – Digging Deeper - An In-Depth Analysis of a Fast Flux
Network.
Fast Flux, a DNS technique first introduced in 2006 and widely
associated with the Storm Worm malware variants, can be used by
botnets to hide various types of malicious activities – including
phishing, web proxying, malware delivery, and malware
communication. The technique allows the botnet to "hide" behind an
ever-changing network of compromised hosts, ultimately acting as
proxies and making detection incredibly difficult.
As the world's largest Content Delivery Network (CDN) provider,
Akamai has unmatched visibility into traffic flowing across both
enterprise networks and the Internet. The high level of
sophistication these botnets employ requires a new approach to
detection. Using advanced algorithms that can distinguish between
the rapidly changing malicious activity generated by these networks
and legitimate traffic is key to successful detection and
mitigation.
Akamai's Enterprise Security Threat Research Team conducted an
analysis of a sophisticated botnet using Fast Flux techniques made
up of more than 14,000 IP addresses. Although most of the IP
addresses originate from eastern Europe, some of the associated IP addresses
are in address space that is assigned to Fortune 100 companies.
These addresses are most likely used by this particular Fast Flux
network owner as spoofed entities and are not genuine members of
the network. This approach allows the botnet to "borrow" the
positive reputation associated with the IP address to carry out its
malicious activities.
"The increasing complexity of enterprise networks and
dependencies on public networks make it more difficult than ever to
maintain an accurate picture of what is really happening on your
networks," said Or Katz, Principal Lead Security Researcher,
Akamai. "At the same time, the increasing sophistication of the
obfuscation techniques used by hackers to hide their malicious
activities makes it even more important to maintain granular
insights into network activity. The level of visibility Akamai has
into both 'good' and 'bad' traffic on the Internet and within
corporate enterprise network makes this kind of research possible
and is critically important to how we can best protect our
customers."
Akamai offerings such as Enterprise Threat Protector are
designed to help organizations defend themselves against malicious
botnets by identifying harmful behavior more quickly and blocking
harmful interactions before they impact operations.
A complimentary copy of the white paper containing more detailed
analysis of the botnet is available for download.
Mr. Katz will also be presenting his team's findings during a
session at Akamai EDGE 2017, its tenth annual customer conference,
taking place October 11-13, 2017 at
the ARIA Resort, Las Vegas. For a
complete list of sessions, please visit the EDGE website. A list of
registration rates, description of eligible attendees and
conference pass options is available at EDGE Registration.
About Akamai
As the world's largest and most
trusted cloud delivery platform, Akamai makes it easier for its
customers to provide the best and most secure digital experiences
on any device, anytime, anywhere. Akamai's massively distributed
platform is unparalleled in scale with over 200,000 servers across
130 countries, giving customers superior performance and threat
protection. Akamai's portfolio of web and mobile performance, cloud
security, enterprise access, and video delivery solutions are
supported by exceptional customer service and 24/7 monitoring. To
learn why the top financial institutions, e-commerce leaders, media
& entertainment providers, and government organizations trust
Akamai please visit www.akamai.com, blogs.akamai.com, or @Akamai on
Twitter.
Contacts:
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Rob Morton
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Tom Barth
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Media
Relations
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Investor
Relations
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617-444-3641
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617-274-7130
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rmorton@akamai.com
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tbarth@akamai.com
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SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.