China is the main source of DDoS attacks globally: Akamai report
An alarming 43% of DDoS attacks originated from Chinese IP addresses in Q4 2013. On a positive note, global internet connection speeds have grown
The importance of the internet cannot be overstated. Being the backbone of commerce and communication for people all over the world, it is a top priority for anyone whose work and life revolve around the internet (basically, nearly everyone nowadays) to keep track of the trends and developments surrounding this vast global network.
Every quarter, cloud provider Akamai Technologies publishes a report called ‘State of the internet’, based on data gathered by its cloud platform, Akamai Intelligent Platform. Here, e27 brings you some insights from its latest report, which was generated from data gathered in Q4, 2013.
Most DDoS attacks originate from Chinese IPs
One notable insight from Akamai’s report is that nearly 43 per cent of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks originated from Chinese IP addresses. This is more than twice the percentage for the US, which stands at 19 per cent.
With this data, it may be tempting for website administrators to impose restrictions on Chinese internet traffic, cutting down on the risk of a DDoS attack on their sites. However, Akamai cautions that it only captures country-specific IP data, not attribution — meaning that the case could be that Chinese PCs are favourite targets for hackers all over the world to compromise and launch attacks from.
Also Read: Cyber security involves protecting national interests
Global average and peak connection speeds increased
Akamai also gathered data on both, peak and average internet connection speeds around the world. And the results certainly reflect the rapid adoption of broadband services — the global average connection speed has increased by 5.5 per cent to 3.8 Mbps, and the peak connection speed has gone up by 30 per cent to 23.2 Mbps.
More specifically in Asia, countries such as China and the Philippines have seen their average connection speeds climb by 40 to 80 per cent on a year-on-year basis. For multimedia content providers, this represents a huge increase in market size, with people better equipped to use bandwidth-heavy streaming services.
What’s the difference between broadband and mobile access?
In June 2013, Akamai introduced the Aqua Ion solution, which is designed to optimise web experience across broadband and mobile platforms. One component of Aqua Ion is RUM, or Real User Monitoring. This has allowed Akamai to gather data on the differences between broadband and mobile browsing, which is presented for the first time in this report.
The results obtained, a function of loading times for broadband and mobile access, are interesting to say the least. For Asia, China came out tops with nearly no difference in browsing times. Mobile browsing in Hong Kong, on the other hand, is 2.6 times slower compared to broadband. In general, Asian mobile users can expect their speeds to be around 1.5-1.6 times slower than on fibre, cable, or ADSL.
Also Read: By 2017, mobile Internet connections will exceed world’s population
The infographic below shows more details about some of the key aspects of Akamai’s report. For more information, the full report can be found here.
Image credit: Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock
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