DDoS Attack Study Shows U.S. Companies Better Equipped for Cyber Security Issues

By   ISBuzz Team
Writer , Information Security Buzz | May 04, 2015 05:05 pm PST

Survey shows heightened preparedness and adoption of hybrid technologies

Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR), a trusted, neutral provider of real-time information services and analytics, announced findings from its 2015 United States Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks & Impact Report.  The findings highlight an increase in the number and size of DDoS attacks, their costly and devastating effects on brand perception, and a heightened state of preparedness for U.S. businesses.

Key findings of the survey:

  • 91 percent say DDoS attacks are a bigger or same threat as last year
  • 85 percent of companies are attacked multiple times
  • 32 percent of companies would lose more than $100k in revenue per hour of attack
  • 26 percent report DDoS attacks adversely affect customer trust and brand reputation
  • 31 percent say their longest attacks last more than one day

“With 51 percent of companies investing more of their annual budget to prevent DDoS attacks, this study proves that DDoS has transcended to an institutional threat that is very real and recognized by all members of the C-suite,” said Margee Abrams, CISSP, director of security services at Neustar. “A website attack that was once considered to be an IT problem now reverberates and can cause significant brand damage that affects all organizational employees and its customers.”

As a response to the pervasive DDoS attacks, companies have increased their adoption of Hybrid protection by 55 percent from last year.

Hybrid, a highly recommended approach that allows companies to mitigate DDoS attacks by combining on-site hardware and cloud-based solutions, is also the defense of choice by 94 percent of companies who would lose more than $100k per hour during peak business times.

“The increased hybrid adoption reflects the growing need for companies to have immediate, on-premises DDoS defense capabilities along with the capacity to surge defenses in response to larger attacks,” said Abrams. “Companies continue to rely on layered traditional perimeter defenses including firewalls, routers and switches as well as DDoS mitigation services.  But when revenues and brand reputation are at risk, deploying a hybrid solution offers the best of both worlds:  immediate on-premises protection with the capacity that only cloud providers can offer.” she added.

To conduct the study, Neustar surveyed 510 companies across a diverse range of industries including financial services, technology, retail, government & public sector, health care, energy & utility, telecommunications, e-commerce, Internet services and media.

Joe Loveless, security solutions expert at Neustar, will present the report findings today at the 2015 West Coast Information Security and Broader Technology Growth Conference in San Francisco. Neustar will also have representatives available to discuss the results at the RSA Conference, held April 21-24, also in San Francisco.

The annual report spotlights the risks organizations face on a daily basis and shows how companies throughout the U.S. are aggressively defending themselves.

  • DDoS attacks are nothing new, but this year’s report showed that 88% of companies are hit multiple times
  • 39% of those respondents attacked more than 10 times annually.
  • Financial cost of a DDoS attack can be at least $100K due to a DDoS outage during peak business.

While it’s become clear that increasing mitigation capacity alone isn’t enough anymore, it has also become clear that companies need to be more strategic in their fight against DDoS attacks. Neustar is continuing to help its customers strategize and secure their online infrastructure through the detection and removal of malicious traffic.

About Neustar, Inc.
Neustar, Inc.Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR) is the first real-time provider of cloud-based information services and data analytics, enabling marketing and IT security professionals to promote and protect their businesses. With a commitment to privacy and neutrality, Neustar operates complex data registries and uses its expertise to deliver actionable, data-driven insights that help clients make high-value business decisions in real time, one customer interaction at a time. More information is available at www.neustar.biz.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Expert Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Recent Posts

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x