Correlates of DDoS Attack Targets and Hackers Locations

• In Event: The Future is Cyber(crime): Findings from the Cybercrime Interdisciplinary Behavior Research (CIBR) Laboratory at USF

Abstract

Over the last decade there has been a rise in cybercrime-as-a-service (CaaS) offering distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS), enabling individuals to direct attacks against various targets. The CaaS offer subscription services to launch DDoS attacks on demand, and the number of DDoS attacks have significantly increased as a result. Researchers have examined the source of DDoS attacks, though few have considered the correlation of the attacker and the victim by location and type of target. This study examines this issue using an analysis of variance of DDoS attacks launched using CaaS. The implications of this study for our understanding of DDoS target selection and attacker location as related to government and commercial targets vs. personal targets are discussed in depth.

Authors

• Jin Lee, George Mason University

• Thomas Hyslip, University of South Florida

• George Burruss, University of South Florida