The largest distributed denial of service attacks have broken the 100Gbit/s barrier, according to Arbor Networks 's sixth annual Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report, a survey of global ISPs on security issues. (See Arbor: DDoS Attacks Hit 100-Gig Barrier.)

Why this matters
It means the bad guys have amassed an enormous amount of infrastructure, namely bot computers, to mount DDos attacks, says Paul Scanlon, Arbor's solutions architect for the Americas. And such large attacks could be used to cripple key routes.

"An attack of that size could saturate ten 10Gbit/s transatlantic links," Scanlon points out. "And they have been happening more often than businesses are willing to report," because few businesses want to publicize the vulnerability of their Web resources, Scanlon says.

DDos attacks often aim to take out a website or domain, but they're also used to hide other direct attacks against key assets, Scanlon says. "If I can get your whole team focused on [the] website going down, I can find another means into your system or buy myself enough time to get the intellectual property I want."

Arbor -- which is being acquired by Tektronix Communications -- lets service providers anonymously report the frequency and volume of attacks. This year, 111 responded, including more Tier 1 and Tier 2 carriers than before. (See Tektronix Buys Into Security and Tektronix, Arbor CEOs Weigh In on Deal.)

For more
Here's a look other security warnings:

• Telcordia Warns of 'Digital Pearl Harbor'
• Tackling Cloud Computing Challenges - by HP
• Perfect Storm Threatens Telecom Networks

— Carol Wilson, Chief Editor, Events, Light Reading