We all know that there are multiple attacks on the Internet that can put our computers at risk. It is something that happens when using any device or operating system. One of the varieties of attacks is what is known as DDoS. As we know the objective may be to deny the service when trying to access a platform or website, for example. Luckily there are methods and tools that we can use to try to mitigate this problem. In this article we are going to talk about what APDoS attacks are and why they are more dangerous.
What are APDoS attacks
DDoS attacks generate a large number of requests that are directed to a service, website or platform. Many access requests that can cause problems and cause the server to be unresponsive and therefore legitimate users cannot access the content.
This is something we have seen on many occasions. There have been many such attacks targeting different companies and online platforms. They use botnets , which are devices that have previously been infected and act like zombies, to carry out these massive requests.
This is a major problem as it can leave a site inaccessible for a time. Something that could cause economic losses in a company, for example. However, as we have indicated, there are different functions and tools that users can take into account to avoid or at least lessen the effect of these attacks.
But here APDoS attacks come into play. It means advanced persistent denial of service attack. It is a threat that is increasingly present. We can say that it draws on the most powerful features when carrying out attacks and also combines it with a multivector attack campaign that targets all layers of the infrastructure, such as the server, the network or the system.
DDoS attacks in a massive and persistent way
We can say that they are DDoS attacks in a massive and persistent way . They flood the network, system, and server with multiple repeated attacks. They can use five to eight attack vectors at the same time, and this involves several tens of millions of requests per second.
These APDoS attacks are a large number of attack vectors combined into a single campaign, and therefore representative of a number of cyber security trends and attributes seen on the market today. APDoS attacks target an organization’s “blind spot” by increasing the number of parallel launched attack vectors targeting different layers of the network and the data center.
Note that it can include not only the target organization, but also service providers and capabilities to mitigate DDoS attacks. Simply failing to detect one of the attack vectors could lead to its success and that could lead to destructive results.
It is important to know that these types of APDoS attacks are increasingly present . Simultaneous multi-vector attacks combining network and application attacks have been on the rise.
Automation is linked to APDoS attacks, as we can imagine. Many bots are used to carry out attacks as a whole. In this way, hackers can quickly amplify the volume and range of an attack.
They use tricks and features like imitating the behavior of a legitimate user when using a browser-based plugin, as well as tools that imitate the behavior. Techniques include running JavaScript, downloading images, and other referenced content.
Changing the source IP address allows tools to maintain a low IP activity rate, thus avoiding IP-based detection systems.
In short, APDoS attacks are becoming a technique widely used by attackers to achieve their goal.