Diversity of Thought in Tech

At Akamai, we believe innovation is only possible when the various viewpoints and experiences of a collective, culminate to make a great idea. It is the variety of these ideas which is important. Why does diversity of thought matter? When...

Easy VPN Transition With Zero Trust Access

Akamai recently announced Enterprise Application Access capabilities designed to improve performance and user experience, as well as provide an easy migration away from VPN, reducing complexity and risk. The new capabilities -- IP address-based access, on-premises network detection, and captive...

Criminals Using Targeted Remote File Inclusion Attacks in Phishing Campaigns

In June 2019, logs on my personal website recorded markers that were clearly Remote File Inclusion RFI vulnerability attempts. The investigation into the attempts uncovered a campaign of targeted RFI attacks that currently are being leveraged to deploy phishing kits...

New OTT Service Changing How New Zealanders Watch Sports

Communications service providers are looking for new ways to gain an edge in today's competitive market. In sports-crazed New Zealand, one of the country's largest telecom providers just launched an all-sports video service to attract new subscribers. Spark Sport is a new over-the-top OTT offerin...

Amazon Prime Day is Now a Major Holiday, Driving up Traffic by More Than 14% in the U.S.

For the just-completed Amazon Prime Day a full 48 hours this year, published reports indicate that it was the largest shopping event in Amazon's history, exceeding their own 2018 sales for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. And this year, there were more than 250 other retailers that...

Why Identity Aware Proxies are Key to Adaptive Access Controls

By now, you have likely heard the term "Zero Trust". From tech seminars and industry events to webinars and whitepapers, it is popping up everywhere. CISOs and CTOs are constantly inundated with calls and messages from different vendors proclaiming different ways their solutions can help them...

In Conversation: It's Never Too Late

There can be barriers to pursuing a career in tech. For many people, the journey isn't straightforward. Many of our Akamai employees have diverse backgrounds and have overcome obstacles to pursue their dream career. Often, the way forward into a...

Akamai Load Balancing to Lock-in Quality

The Right Service from the Right Edge at the Right Time Introduction As Akamai's Global Traffic Management for Cloud, Data Centers and CDNs blog introduces, Akamai's Intelligent Edge™ platform includes DNS and Layer 7 load balancing capabilities that combine to get users to the right edge at the...

Pykspa v2 DGA updated to become selective

Additional research and information provided by Asaf Nadler Recent changes to the Pykspa v2 domain generation algorithm DGA have made it more selective. Akamai researchers have tracked these changes and believe that part of the reason for selective domain generation...

NSX-T vs. NSX-V – Key Differences and Pitfalls to Avoid

Learn the difference between VMware’s segmentation offerings, NSX-T vs NSX-V, and understand the several potential pitfalls that are important to consider before deployment...

5 Years of Fighting DDoS with the Power of Akamai

Additional analysis and research provided by Principal Architect, Tom Emmons Earlier this year, Akamai celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Prolexic acquisition. The merger was officially completed in February of 2014, and a lot has happened since then. In this post, we want to spend a moment...

Enhancing Customer Value, Building Customer Relationships and Strengthening Team Collaboration

Effective communication skills are fundamental to developing both immediate and long term relationships with our customers. How else can we learn the answers to questions such as: "What are our customers concerns, needs, and desires?", "How can we best address their short and long term needs?", A...

SIRT Advisory: Silexbot Bricking Systems With Known Default Login Credentials

On June 25th, I discovered a new bot named Silexbot on my honeypot. The bot itself is a blunt tool used to destroy IoT devices. Its author, someone who claims to be a 14-year-old boy from Europe, has made his...

Intercept SaaS Services with the Akamai EAA Client

I was quite fortunate to visit Tokyo for the first time last year, and it was an unforgettable experience to explore all the sights and sounds around the Ginza district and to interact with the very friendly Japanese people. It wasn't all play, though -- and I had to get some real work done as...

Sign in with Apple

What's in a Login Button? All you need to know about the new "Sign in with Apple" For Akamai Identity Cloud, we intend to support our clients that wish to implement "Sign in with Apple" just like we do for Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and about 30 other Identity Providers. If yo...

In Conversation: Career Development as a Parent

Technology can only continue to thrive with the direct influence of those involved in its evolution. When the experiences of those people are broad, the tech industry benefits from the diversity of what they bring to the table. At Akamai,...

Enhancing video streaming quality for ExoPlayer - Part 1: Quality of User Experience Metrics

Authors: Mark Greve, Domițian Tămaș-Selicean The online video player landscape is fragmented with a wide variety of players across a mix of popular platforms. In the world of HTML5-video players in browsers, there are a number of open-source solutions e.g., hls.js, dash.js, Shaka Player, as well ...

Enhancing video streaming quality for ExoPlayer - Part 1: Quality of User Experience Metrics

The online video player landscape is fragmented with a wide variety of players across a mix of popular platforms. In the world of HTML5-video players in browsers, there are a number of open-source solutions e.g., hls.js, dash.js, Shaka Player, as well as commercial offerings which include Akamai'...

CloudTest Vulnerability (CVE-2019-11011)

...

Latest ECHOBOT: 26 Infection Vectors

Introduction Since the release of the Mirai source code in October of 2016, there have been hundreds of variants. While publishing my own research, I noticed that Palo Alto Networks was also examining similar samples, and published their findings. Earlier...

Catch Me If You Can: Evasive and Defensive Techniques in Phishing

Phishing is a multifaceted type of attack, aimed at collecting usernames and passwords, personal information, or sometimes both. Yet, these attacks only work so long as the phishing kit itself remains hidden. Phishing is a numbers game and time is...

In Conversation: New Starters

The world is changing. At Akamai, we're proud to be part of the shift towards a more inclusive future. Where digital systems may replace human processes, we are determined to keep people at the center of our focus. After all,...

GSS at Edge World

It's a busy time for my team as we prepare for next week's customer conference, Edge World, in Las Vegas. I'm excited for another productive week of interacting and innovating with our customers. There's still time for you to join us; register here. I wanted to highlight the great work that the...

Identifying Vulnerabilities in Phishing Kits

While recently examining hundreds of phishing kits for ongoing research, Akamai discovered something interesting - several of the kits included basic vulnerabilities due to flimsy construction or reliance on outdated open source code. Considering the impact phishing kits have on...

I Am The One Who Knocks -- Device Posture and Detecting the Danger In Your Devices

With growing mobile and remote workforces, enterprises must allow many different device types to access their applications in the name of productivity and flexibility. Traditional, perimeter-based security methods are no longer viable due to complexity, maintenance overhead, and inherently insecu...

Our Ceiling, Their Floor, Educating the Future

Throughout this blog series, we've been discussing the future of tech in relation to our young people. At Akamai, our outreach programs and forward-thinking culture have positioned us as part of the movement determined to make the world better for...

Protecting the New Online Frontiers: Akamai on Watch

At Akamai, security is at the heart of everything we create. After more than two decades on the front lines of the Internet revolution, Akamai continues to pioneer strategies, products, and solutions that keep the world's information safe and secure. We protect you from the data center, beyond th...

3 Tips to Action Consumer Trust with Data Security and Privacy

Start Playing Here High-profile data breaches and increasingly sophisticated security threats are driving smart brands to better manage the mass amounts of consumer data they've spent years collecting. To do so, brands must prioritize their customers' interests and build a modern data security an...

Egyptian DDoS Campaign Observations

Between March 19 and March 25, 2019, there was a very large amount of DDoS traffic sourced from a specific Egyptian Autonomous System ASN directed at Akamai Prolexic customers. It's worth noting this is an ASN we rarely see in our pre-attack, or top source IPs during active attacks. When it showe...

Broadcast Operations Control Center (BOCC): Enabling OTT Broadcast Operations

So, what is the BOCC? Simply put, Akamai runs a state-of-the-art Broadcast Operations Control Centre, the BOCC, to help ensure smooth and seamless end-user play-back experience for live OTT Over the Top and linear video delivered through Akamai Media Delivery Solutions. To phrase it more...

The Financial Implications of Online Video Quality

A single instance of video rebuffering could result in more than $85,000 in lost revenue. That's one of the key findings in Understanding the Value of Consistency in OTT Video Delivery, a new report that Akamai has released in conjunction with MTM, a research and consulting firm specializing in...

Akamai Receives a Loyalty360 Top 10 Award

Customer experience is built into Akamai at the core. Our web performance and media delivery products have helped businesses provide seamless, secure digital experiences for years... whether it's making sure your experience is flawless during a flash sale online to ensuring you can access your ba...

16Shop: Commercial Phishing Kit Has A Hidden Backdoor

Additional research by Or Katz When it comes to targeting Apple users and their personal and financial data, 16Shop has emerged as a go to kit for those who can afford it. While 16Shop is sold to criminals looking to...

Mother's Day Online Shoppers Were Active, and So Were Threat Actors

Mother's Day is a major online shopping event that attracts both shoppers as well as threat actors. Earlier in the year, we reported on the United Kingdom's version, called Mothering Sunday. An eMarketer spending forecast predicted that in the United States, retail gift spending would increase,...

Preventing the Top Data Center Breaches

Data center breaches can seem impossible to avoid, but good data center security can seriously reduce your risk. We look at famous breaches Equifax, Yahoo, & more...

Do DDoS attacks originate from Cloud Service Providers?

In a word, yes. Cloud service providers CSPs continue to power a growing portion of the greater Internet. According to Cisco, by 2021, 73 percent of cloud workloads are going to be CSP based, which reflects a compound annual growth rate of 27.5 percent from 2016 to 2021. Unfortunately, CSPs are...

Bots Tampering with TLS to Avoid Detection

Researchers at Akamai observed attackers using a novel approach for evading detection. This new technique - which we call Cipher Stunting - has become a growing threat, with its roots tracing back to early-2018. By using advanced methods, attackers are...

Containers vs Virtual Machines – Your Cheat Sheet to Know the Differences

Containers vs virtual machines is an ongoing debate in many IT shops around the world. Learn what makes each unique, their common use cases, and how to keep both secure...

Exploring botnets in VR

By Asaf Nadler & Lior Lahav Botnets often use domain generation algorithms DGAs to select a domain name, which bots use to establish communication channels with their command and control servers C2. Since Akamai analyzes over 2.2 trillion DNS requests per day, and detects thousands of active...

Words of Wisdom: Advice for Pursuing a Career in Tech

The introduction of AI into the workplace is creating uncertainty over the future of employment. However, research shows that tech will create "133 million" more jobs before 2022 than it will dissolve, as "new entities in the economy replace obsolete...

Deployment Diversity for DNS Resiliency

Consider Addressing Delegation Servers with Varying Network Routes Written by: Jim Gilbert and Barry Greene Don't Forget DNS Similar to diverse workforces performing at a higher level, diverse network service deployments perform at a higher level that is increasingly important as the Internet...

When "Customers" Attack DNS

Be real. A Communications Service Provider's CSP's customer will not use their home to attack the Domain Name System DNS. They might as well unplug from the Internet. Yet, customers get infected, CPEs get violated, and miscreants all over the Internet reflect attacks off CSP customers to attack...

Introducing New RUM-based Website Performance Benchmarks!

End users expect nothing short of a flawless experience when visiting your website. A slow-performing, error-prone website can lead to significant losses in revenue and brand value. Do you know how your website performs for real users compared to other similar sites? We are excited to tell you...

CHAPTER 3: ELECTION DAY - BEST PRACTICES AND READINESS CHECKLIST FOR DIGITAL NEWS PUBLISHERS

CHAPTER 3: ELECTION DAY - BEST PRACTICES AND READINESS FOR DIGITAL NEWS PUBLISHERS As the 2019 General Election results approach, the frenzy and anticipation continue to build. Digital news publishers have the opportunity to engage with audiences on their digital properties as users go online to...

Deployment Diversity for DNS Resiliency

Similar to diverse workforces performing at a higher level, diverse network service deployments perform at a higher level that is increasingly important as the Internet continues to augment our reality. Akamai has 20 years of edge service deployment experience. Akamai's Intelligent Edge has prove...

Fast DNS Secondary Implementation: Order or Operations for NS Zone & Registrar Records

Akamai's Fast DNS service provides cloud-based, authoritative domain services to thousands of organizations. Fast DNS is the most widely deployed cloud DNS service pushed to the edge of the Internet. Every organization must protect their domain name. Akamai's built Fast DNS to focus on domain nam...

Edge DNS Secondary Implementation: Order or Operations for NS Zone & Registrar Records

Akamai's Edge DNS service provides cloud-based, authoritative domain services to thousands of organizations. Edge DNS is the most widely deployed cloud DNS service pushed to the edge of the Internet. Every organization must protect their domain name. Akamai originally built Fast DNS now Edge DNS ...

How Credit Unions Can Optimize & Secure the Mobile App Experience

A small army of digital natives are about to become the largest generation globally. Gen Z, those born after 1996, will account for 32% of the world's population 7.7 billion in 2019 and outnumber millennials for the first time, according to World Economic Forum. This year, it will be critical for...

The Problem with Perfection: Tech Confidence in Young Girls

At Akamai, we believe the future of tech is full of amazing opportunities. However, to ensure these opportunities are fulfilled, some things in the industry need to change. To enable these changes, we are committed to providing opportunities to anyone...

Traffic Management for Peace of Mind

Ensure Quality of Experience and Readiness with CDN Capacity Overflow Have you ever planned and launched a system with painstaking detail and, at some point in time, something unexpected breaks the system? An unexpected event might be an unanticipated scenario a bug! or user adoption beyond...