For the first time, Port 445 (Microsoft-DS) is not the port that hackers target the most. October 16, 2013 6:11 AM PDT (Credit: Akamai) The security world is changing rapidly. Akamai on Wednesday released its State of the Internet report for the second quarter of 2013, and revealed that for the first time since it started its data-gathering in 2008, Port 445 (Microsoft-DS) was not the chosen way to attack unsuspecting victims. Instead, hackers have moved to targeting any and all users over the Web through HTTP Port 80 and SSL (HTTPS) port 443. That hackers are changing their tactics is notable. For years, the Microsoft-DS port was a favored place for hackers, since it allowed for the transfer of malicious content to PCs. Now, though, it appears hackers are acknowledging that people are possibly more susceptible to attacks through the Web. In addition, Akamai, which provides Web infrastructure services, revealed that China was not the top originator for malicious attacks in the second quarter. Instead, Indonesia took the top spot, accounting for 38 percent of all malicious traffic. China accounted for 33 percent of malicious traffic. The US was in third place at 6.9 percent. Some other findings from the Akamai report: Akamai tallied over 752 million unique IPv4 addresses from 242 countries/regions around the world, representing a 13 percent increase year-over-year. Akamai believes over one billion Web users connected to its infrastructure during the second quarter. Global average peak connection speeds are up to 18.9Mbps. Hong Kong was tops at 65.1Mbps average connection speeds.
For the first time, Port 445 (Microsoft-DS) is not the port that hackers target the most.
The security world is changing rapidly.
Akamai on Wednesday released its State of the Internet report for the second quarter of 2013, and revealed that for the first time since it started its data-gathering in 2008, Port 445 (Microsoft-DS) was not the chosen way to attack unsuspecting victims. Instead, hackers have moved to targeting any and all users over the Web through HTTP Port 80 and SSL (HTTPS) port 443.
That hackers are changing their tactics is notable. For years, the Microsoft-DS port was a favored place for hackers, since it allowed for the transfer of malicious content to PCs. Now, though, it appears hackers are acknowledging that people are possibly more susceptible to attacks through the Web.
In addition, Akamai, which provides Web infrastructure services, revealed that China was not the top originator for malicious attacks in the second quarter. Instead, Indonesia took the top spot, accounting for 38 percent of all malicious traffic. China accounted for 33 percent of malicious traffic. The US was in third place at 6.9 percent.
Some other findings from the Akamai report:
- Akamai tallied over 752 million unique IPv4 addresses from 242 countries/regions around the world, representing a 13 percent increase year-over-year.
- Akamai believes over one billion Web users connected to its infrastructure during the second quarter.
- Global average peak connection speeds are up to 18.9Mbps. Hong Kong was tops at 65.1Mbps average connection speeds.
