Nexusguard Finds New Reflective Denial of Service Threat -- Sentinel Attack Can Compromise Over 92,000 Vulnerable Global Machines

Dangerous Attack Has a 50X Amplification Factor and is Involved with the Sentinel License Manager and Other Applications

News provided by

Nexusguard

Sep 23, 2015, 12:31 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Nexusguard, the Worldwide Leader in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Security Solutions, announced today it spotted a new tool in the hacker's arsenal, a reflective denial of service attack known as "Sentinel Reflection." These attacks are especially disruptive because they amplify DDoS intrusions which can cripple a business and its brand relationship with customers. Nexusguard's sophisticated technology and team of security experts constantly monitor systems to identify and mitigate the latest threats in order to prevent such damaging problems.

The security industry has seen an increase in reflective denial of service attacks in the past few years as they are increasingly used for infrastructure intrusions. Nexusguard actively tracks such attacks, and found in August 2015 that NTP-based attacks were used seventy five percent of the time, DNS was at thirteen, and SSDP was at three percent of all attacks. These three attack types have been around for some time, and still remain popular, even with the availability of ntp, snmp and chargen-based attacks. This new Sentinel attack is utilized to increase the effectiveness of DDoS attacks, and is confirmed to be involved with the Sentinel License Manager, a robust license enforcement and enablement solution.

"This Sentinel threat is another example of a new amplification method that we have spotted in the wild that is being leveraged by hackers to boost DDoS attacks," explains Terrence Gareau, Chief Scientist, Nexusguard. "The Sentinel attack is also unusual because multiple services are responding to the same request, so we see five distinct response signatures. We work diligently to recognize and limit the effectiveness of these newly discovered threats, and our alerts help companies to proactively protect their systems. Our team is very adept at finding the latest threats and committed to aiding our clients in achieving maximum uptimes and minimal business interruptions."

The industry's longest-tenured DDoS protection firm, Nexusguard analyzes traffic and eliminates threats to aid clients in managing vulnerabilities. Its premium customer service and technology solutions allow it to maintain a nearly 100% retention rate within the cybersecurity sector. To learn more about Nexusguard's suite of comprehensive Internet security solutions, please visit www.nexusguard.com.

About Nexusguard
Founded in 2008, Nexusguard is the global leader in fighting malicious internet attacks. Nexusguard protects clients against a multitude of threats, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, to ensure uninterrupted internet service. Nexusguard provides comprehensive, highly customized solutions for customers of all sizes, across a range of industries, and also enables turnkey anti-DDoS solutions for service providers. Nexusguard delivers on its promise to maximize peace of mind by minimizing threats and improving uptime. Headquartered in San Francisco, Nexusguard's network of security experts extends globally. Visit www.nexusguard.com for more information.

SOURCE Nexusguard