Web DDoS attacks, an emerging generation of aggressive, layer 7, HTTP Floods, are on the rise. According to Radware’s new Global Threat Analysis Report, total malicious web application and API transactions increased by 171% in 2023 compared to 2022. A significant part of this increase in activity can be attributed to Web DDoS attacks.

"Since adopting Radware's Cloud WAF Service, we've been able to accurately prevent even the most sophisticated DDoS attacks on BLEND and continue to provide smooth service,” said Mr. Yuichi Yokohama, chief information security officer at MotivationWorks. “What's more, Radware's Emergency Response Team is a fully managed 24X7X365 service that provides comprehensive research for attack detection, alerting, and protection, and also helps us configure and update our security policies. Radware's Cloud WAF Service is effective not only for full-cloud school support services like BLEND, but also for protecting web applications in industries that require advanced security measures, including finance and securities."

To limit the damage caused by DDoS attacks, Japan’s National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) issued a report that recommends that companies take proactive security measures, including blocking communication from IP addresses assigned overseas, deploying a Contents Delivery Network and WAF, and reviewing server settings.

Despite MotivationWorks’ efforts to implement the recommendations, Web DDoS attacks aimed at disrupting its BLEND services during certain hours increased rapidly. The situation reached a point where attacks couldn’t be prevented simply by restricting access through WAF request rate limits. And since the BLEND system is heavily accessed from single IP addresses used by single schools starting at the beginning of the school day, blocking Web DDoS attacks by limiting the request rate also threatened to interrupt services for users.

To strengthen its security posture, MotivationWorks selected Radware's Cloud WAF Service, which is part of Radware’s broader Cloud Application Protection solution. The service includes comprehensive protection features, such as AI-driven algorithms, behavioral-based detection and granular real-time signature generation designed to track IP address-independent sources and block Web DDoS attacks targeting web applications without disrupting legitimate traffic.

According to Mr. Sangwook Kang, Radware’s managing director in Japan, "Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the rise of hacktivism, cyber attacks entered a new era. In particular, Web DDoS attacks increased dramatically. Signature, rate-limit, IP reputation, and CAPTCHA features provided by traditional WAFs alone are not enough to completely stop the attacks without blocking legitimate traffic. Instead, organizations need AI-driven and behavioral-based security solutions that can adapt in real time, accurately detecting and surgically mitigating malicious traffic. In recent years, cyber attacks targeting APIs and Account Take Over attacks using malicious bots are also trending upwards, so countermeasures against these threats are urgently needed, too."

About Radware

Radware® (NASDAQ: RDWR) is a global leader of cyber security and application delivery solutions for physical, cloud, and software defined data centers. Its award-winning solutions portfolio secures the digital experience by providing infrastructure, application, and corporate IT protection, and availability services to enterprises globally. Radware’s solutions empower enterprise and carrier customers worldwide to adapt to market challenges quickly, maintain business continuity, and achieve maximum productivity while keeping costs down. For more information, please visit the Radware website.

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