Akamai: Recent DNS Attacks of 23 Gbps; Lists Attacked TCP Ports

Akamai published its State of the Internet report for Q3, 2012. The security section provides some interesting information on the volume of DDoS attacks Akamai saw recently, during "Operation Ababil" and about the distribution of DDoS attacks per TCP ports:

• 'Denial-of-service attacks associated with “Operation Ababil” are targeting banks and financial institutions. Among those attacks targeting Akamai customers, Akamai observed up to 65 Gbps of total attack traffic, with nearly 23 Gbps of attack traffic targeting DNS servers". 

• As for other attacks - "As shown in [top] Figure 2 [the second chart shows the Q1 '12/Q4 '11  results] attack traffic concentration among the top 10 ports once again declined during the third quarter of 2012, with these ports responsible for 59% of observed attacks, down from 62% in the second quarter, and 77% in the first quarter. The percentage of attacks targeting Port 445 once again dropped quarter-over-quarter, though not quite as significantly as seen between the first and second quarters. Port 445 remained the most targeted port in eight of the top 10 countries".