The number of online protestors using distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to remonstrate for whatever cause they are fighting for is increasing dramatically, according to a new study.

Hacktivism, as it is popularly known, is now considered the number reason behind the deployment of DDoS attacks.

It has overtaken the self-interested financially-driven reason as the top motivator for using such a system to target businesses and companies and disrupt their services.

The Arbor Networks 7th Annual Worldwide Infrastructure Report suggested that any organisation is open to attack because of the sheer number of DDoS tolls available out there.

Jennifer Pigg, founder, Battle Green Research, a Yankee Group affiliate, explained that in the past two years alone, the pace of technological innovation had been so fast that they are proving to be a difficult force to reckon with.

The ability of hacktivists to understand, develop, operate and deploy such tools is worrying.

Roland Dobbins, architect for Arbor Networks Solutions for Asia-Pacific, added that 2011 was the year in which DDoS was "democratised."

"Any enterprise operating online -- which means just about any type and size of organisation -- can become a target, because of who they are, what they sell, who they partner with or for any other real or perceived affiliations," Mr Dobbins explained.

"Furthermore, the explosion of inexpensive and readily-accessible attack tools is enabling anyone to carry out DDoS attacks. This has profound implications for the threat landscape, risk profile, network architecture and security deployments of Internet operators and Internet-connected enterprises."

One of the key findings of the report was the sheer sophistication and complexity of DDoS attacks, which, once rare, are now commonplace. The authors of the report noted that a popular strategy among hackers is one which comprises of high-bandwith and application-layer attack components.

Arbor Networks Arbor Networks, Inc. is a leading provider of network security and management solutions for next-generation data centres and carrier networks.
 

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