Lumen research reveals threat actors are modifying tactics to disrupt businesses
Lumen research reveals threat actors are modifying tactics to disrupt businesses
Cyber attackers will never stop trying to overwhelm network defenders, and they constantly change their tactics to make Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and application attacks more difficult to stop. New data from Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN), however, indicate the company's DDoS mitigation service continues to stop these complex attacks.
Earlier today, Lumen released a report detailing the DDoS mitigations and Application Programming Interface (API) protection measures the company deployed in Q2 2023. It shows complex, multi-vector attacks continue to rise, but Lumen® DDoS Mitigation and Application Protection services are helping mitigate them.
"As attackers modify their tactics, it's critical for businesses to have highly available, dynamic, high-performing and secure applications," said Peter Brecl, Lumen's director of product management for DDoS mitigation and application protection. "Companies need the best mitigation controls to protect their customers and their business from DDoS and application-layer attacks without decreasing performance."
Read the Lumen Q2 2023 DDoS and Application Threat Report for the latest stats.
Notable findings in the report include:
Threat actors are mixing things up.
Forty-four percent of Lumen's Q2 DDoS mitigations were multi-vector in nature, meaning the threat actors combined two or more attack techniques.
Lumen's quarter-over-quarter data indicate that attackers are continuously attempting to defeat the company's countermeasures by changing the number and types of vector combinations they deploy.
Multi-vector attacks are significantly more complex than single vector and require sophisticated countermeasures like Lumen's to mitigate. When threat actors deploy multi-vector attacks, they are targeting victims who are unprepared for the new vector combinations.
Government and Telecom continue to be major targets.
Among the top 1,000 largest DDoS attacks mitigated in Q2 2023, telecommunications customers and the government sector were the most targeted. These data are consistent with previous quarters.
API traffic is growing.
As businesses continue to adopt APIs, there has been a significant risen API traffic. ThreatX, Lumen's API and Application Protection partner, expects this trend to continue.
Robust API protection solutions should be implemented to safeguard against attacks that exploit API vulnerabilities.
Brecl continued, "Because threat actors are always and aggressively looking for new, more complex attack strategies, these mitigation controls should also leverage and integrate with threat intelligence capabilities, like those available with Lumen® Rapid Threat Defense. These enable us to discover unique DDoS threats because we have visibility into the network that others do not have. The system then automatically integrates mitigation controls in near-real time, and in conjunction with other mitigating controls effectively blocks the threats before they reach the customer's environment."
"ThreatX has seen a steadily increase growth in traffic associated with APIs, as well as threat actors attempting to exploit this growing attack surface," said Neil Weitzel, director, Security Operations Center at ThreatX. "In addition, we are seeing a range of industries that play critical roles in peoples' lives - banking, telecommunications, education and insurance, for example - turn to APIs as a means of delivering new services and greater value. As the developers in these organizations turn to APIs, however, it is very important that security teams are building long-term strategies to identify APIs and to protect them against complex threats."
Additional resources
Read the full Q2 2023 DDoS and Application Threat Report.
See how Lumen Rapid Threat Defense uses global threat intelligence from Black Lotus Labs® as a countermeasure to block DDoS bots on the network as traffic hits a scrubbing center.
Visit the Lumen Quarterly DDoS report archive.
See how Lumen and ThreatX combine to offer API and Application Protection.
Learn about Lumen's comprehensive DDoS mitigation and Next-gen WAF/WAAP services.
Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.
Send press releases or job posting to newsdesk@redwires.au. Other ways to contact us. Editorially, we may rewrite headlines and descriptions.
Recommend Redwires AU: Accessible News For Young Cybersecurity Aussies
Redwires AU provides Young Australians with easily accessible, curated cybersecurity news.
✍️ Cyber Job Corner ✍️
Associate Cyber Security Operations Analyst(CSOC) - USDS
Sydney Regular R&D - Security Job ID: A166282
Responsibilities
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices, including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Why Join Us
At TikTok, our people are humble, intelligent, compassionate and creative. We create to inspire - for you, for us, and for more than 1 billion users on our platform. We lead with curiosity and aim for the highest, never shying away from taking calculated risks and embracing ambiguity as it comes. Here, the opportunities are limitless for those who dare to pursue bold ideas that exist just beyond the boundary of possibility. Join us and make impact happen with a career at TikTok.
About USDS
At TikTok, we're committed to a process of continuous innovation and improvement in our user experience and safety controls. We're proud to be able to serve a global community of more than a billion people who use TikTok to creatively express themselves and be entertained, and we're dedicated to giving them a platform that builds opportunity and fosters connection. We also take our responsibility to safeguard our community seriously, both in how we address potentially harmful content and how we protect against unauthorized access to user data.
U.S. Data Security (“USDS”) is a standalone department of TikTok in the U.S. This new security-first division was created to bring heightened focus and governance to our data protection policies and content assurance protocols to keep U.S. users safe. Our focus is on providing oversight and protection of the TikTok platform and user data in the U.S., so millions of Americans can continue turning to TikTok to learn something new, earn a living, express themselves creatively, or be entertained.
The teams within USDS that deliver on this commitment daily span Trust & Safety, Security & Privacy, Engineering, User & Product Ops, Corporate Functions and more.
About the Team :
Our Global Security function provides services to TikTok's US market using four principles that guide our strategic and tactical operations.
First, we champion trust and transparency, leading the charge in organizational transparency and execution of security and privacy capabilities that drive customer trust.
Second, we are a business catalyst and enabler, embodying the DNA of technical innovation.
Third, we drive risk-informed and empowered decision-making, giving our business leaders the information needed to make key decisions. Finally, we proactively identify and reduce risk while enabling innovative product development – to consistently build sustainable world-class and trusted security capabilities.
Responsibilities :
As a member of TikTok’s Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) team, you will join a strong team of people with the overarching goal of detecting and responding to threats facing TikTok's products, services and customers around the world. You'll be based in our Cyber Fusion Center in Washington D.C. The CSOC team within TikTok’s Chief Security and Privacy Organization (CSPO) is responsible for 24x7 monitoring of multiple security-related information sources to manage incidents related to cyber, privacy, and data protection for TikTok data, infrastructure, and products.
The CSOC team will regularly survey the TikTok networks for signs of a breach, malware, or unauthorized access. Additionally, the CIRC team is responsible for developing and maintaining incident response plans, playbooks and procedures. Finally, the CSOC team will be responsible for data collection and analysis of Incident Response data.
The CSOC team will take disparate data sets when combined with threat information and other enrichment to conduct analysis and identify incidents and drive appropriate responses to contain and minimize impact and restore normal operations.
The analysis is used to ensure a consistent and coordinated response to ongoing threats ensuring TikTok can continue to operate safely and securely. The preferred candidate will have experience in conducting technical analysis of security events, ideally in malware analysis, incident triage and escalation, digital forensics, and other general incident response-related issues.
The candidate must also communicate effectively with peers and cross-functional teams. You will participate in coordinating response and defensive actions over a variety of security disciplines and disseminate technical information as appropriate in support of TikTok’s critical business, go-to-market, and operational infrastructure needs.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- At least 1-3 years of experience handling security-related incidents.
- Experience in computer security incident handling
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent communication skills (verbal and written).
- Demonstrated teamwork and collaboration skills.
- Ability to communicate technical concepts to a broad range of technical and non-technical staff.
- Strong Operating System Administration skills including conceptual knowledge of OS internals and experience with core service types
- Exposure to Cloud Computing Preferred Qualifications:
- CompTIA Security+
- CompTIA Linux+
- CompTIA Network+
- Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) along with teamwork collaboration per global and multi-functional teams and intelligence source groups
- Experience creating and disseminating reports to multi-level audiences in a technical environment
- Expert knowledge of cyber intelligence data sources and platforms
- Expert knowledge of control of processes for configurations of systems
- Demonstrates excellent time management and prioritization
- Highly motivated to contribute and grow within a complex area of emerging importance in an enterprise environment
- Industry relevant certification(s) (CISSP, GSEC, CISA, Security+, Network+, etc.) TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.
To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too. TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations during our recruitment process. If you need assistance or accommodation, please reach out to us at USRC@tiktok.com.
⚠️ Be careful
When applying for jobs, avoid giving your bank or credit card information.
Please mention Redwires AU in your application.
⚠️ Report Job
Before you go..
You can get RedWires AU for free right now. Your donation, no matter how big or small, will help us keep doing honest journalism.
The readers of Redwires AU are the engine that drives our publication. Add your support to the effort to create a sustainable future for journalism that does not make compromises in the AU.
In the world we live in now, accurate and thorough reporting and analysis are becoming more and more critical. To stop the spread of false information, it's essential that everyone in Australia has access to good reporting.
The Redwires AU contributes to society by opening up access to information and resources for all people, rather than just a select few.
Our only goal is to educate the general public more thoroughly. If you believe in what we're trying to accomplish here, please consider making a contribution right away to ensure our success in the years to come.
Upgrade your subscription to get the most out of it. Join the growing number of people around the world who believe in the power of independent media.
