14 DAY TRIAL // Distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) protection solutions provider Prolexic warns that cybercriminals are increasingly abusing multiplayer video game servers to amplify their attacks.
DDOS attacks are highly problematic for many industries and gaming is one of them.
Experts say that in many cases, the attackers use reflection and amplification techniques to make sure their operations are more efficient in disrupting the targeted systems.
The DDOS attacks that rely on gaming servers to make them more powerful can be aimed at gamers, gaming platforms, and other organizations, such as financial institutions, Prolexic explains.
“DDoS attacks fueled by rivalries, poor password security protocols and readily available DDoS tools are widespread and harm gaming and non-gaming targets alike. There are serious repercussions for every industry from denial of service attacks that feed off the explosive growth of online gaming infrastructures,” said Stuart Scholly, president of Prolexic.
By sending a small request to a gaming server, cybercriminals can obtain an outsized response that’s amplified five times compared to the initial request.
In one particular case, the cybercrooks abused hundreds of misconfigured gaming servers to hit a financial institution with a reflection and amplification DDOS attack that peaked at 5 Gbps.
“This attack targeted Call of Duty 2 gaming servers across the globe – in South Africa, Europe, Asia and the United States,” Scholly noted.
Prolexic has managed to replicate this attack in its labs. The company’s Security Engineering & Response Team (PLXsert) has published a whitepaper which includes the details of the attack against the financial institution.
The paper also details the history of DDOS attacks in online gaming, why they occur in online gaming communities, and the underground market for tools used to target this particular sector.
The complete Multiplayer Video Gaming Attacks white paper is available on Prolexic’s website (registration required). The proof-of-concept attack script developed by the PLXsert to replicate the attack can be found on GitHub.