Volume 5, Issue 3 Web Attacks & Gaming Abuse...Criminals are going to follow the money. Over the past 17 months, Akamai saw a total of 55 billion credential stuffing attacks, and the

[state of the internet] / securityExecutive Summary:

Web Attacks &

Volume 5, Issue 3

Gaming Abuse

Editor’s Note:This issue of the State of the Internet / Security report examines web attack and credential abuse trends in the

gaming industry over the past 17 months.

We chose to focus on the gaming industry in this report. Trade in game accounts represents one of the most

active and rapidly evolving underground economies, fueled purely by credential abuse. We also take a look at

the growing trend of SQL injection (SQLi) as a method of web application attacks, along with the countries that

are the top sources for web application attacks and credential stuffing.

Guest Author: Monique BonnerIn this issue, Akamai Chief Marketing Officer Monique Bonner reflects on three lessons about working with

security teams she’s learned since taking on her role three years ago:

“I used to believe our security product and research teams were like any other in the tech space: Innovation

focused, improvement oriented, all while keeping an eye on costs and ROI. And what I’ve learned is that, while

those things are certainly part of what our security teams do, it’s not what drives them. It’s not what keeps them

curious. It’s not what keeps them awake for 24 hours straight to help defend a customers’ website during a

DDoS attack.”

[state of the internet] / security

Web Attacks & Gaming Abuse: Executive Summary 2

Top Web Attack Vectors November 2017 – March 2019

[state of the internet] / security

Web Attacks & Gaming Abuse: Executive Summary 3

Big Picture of Web AttacksIn the 17-month period tracked by this report, Akamai

saw that SQLi attacks represented nearly two-thirds

of all web application attacks. While every application

attack vector has remained stable with an even

growing pattern, none are growing as quickly as SQLi.

Top Source Countries – All Verticals Top 10 Web Attack Source Countries November 2017 – March 2019

COUNTRY TOTAL ATTACKS GLOBAL RANK

United States 967,577,579 01

Russia 608,655,963 02

Netherlands 280,775,553 03

China 218,015,784 04

Brazil 155,603,585 05

Ukraine 154,887,375 06

India 142,621,086 07

France 121,691,941 08

Germany 113,233,187 09

United Kindom 102,531,816 10

Where are the attacks coming from? The United States

currently holds the top spot in both as the source

country and the target country. However, Russia, the

Netherlands, and China are all high on the list of

where these types of attacks are originating.

0.0 B

0.5 B

1.0 B

1.5 B

2.0 B

2.5 B

4.5% 2.2% 1.7% 1.8%

SQL Injection LFI XSS PHPi

Attack Vector

Att

acks

(Bill

ions

)

RFI Other

65.1%

24.7%

Attacks

100,000,000

1,000,000

10,000

10

Akamai secures and delivers digital experiences for the world’s largest companies. Akamai’s intelligent edge platform surrounds everything, from the enterprise to the cloud, so customers and their businesses can be fast, smart, and secure. Top brands globally rely on Akamai to help them realize competitive advantage through agile solutions that extend the power of their multi-cloud architectures. Akamai keeps decisions, apps, and experiences closer to users than anyone — and attacks and threats far away. Akamai’s portfolio of edge security, web and mobile performance, enterprise access, and video delivery solutions is supported by unmatched customer service, analytics, and 24/7/365 monitoring. To learn why the world’s top brands trust Akamai, visit www.akamai.com, blogs.akamai.com, or @Akamai on Twitter. You can find our global contact information at www.akamai.com/locations. Published 06/19.

For an in-depth look at these stories, please download the full report:

State of the Internet / Security: Web Attacks and Gaming Abuse

Credential Abuse & Gaming

Looking Forward

Criminals are going to follow the money.

Over the past 17 months, Akamai saw a total of 55

billion credential stuffing attacks, and the gaming

industry accounted for 12 billion of them. Criminals in

the gaming vertical will often target users of popular

games, and work to find accounts that they can

compromise. Once those attackers are armed with

the necessary credentials, the compromised account

can then be traded or sold, making the underground

economy for credentials a lucrative spot.

Many gaming companies have warned players against

password reuse across multiple websites and games.

Password reuse is a primary reason why credential

stuffing attacks are so successful. While good

credential hygiene is the responsibility of the end

user, businesses must work to bridge the knowledge

gap in order to keep their customers and users safe.

Across all industries, the United States is still the top

source for credential stuffing attacks. However,

when you look into the gaming vertical specifically,

the United States drops to third, behind Russia

and Canada.

The gaming industry is popular in the worst of ways

— it’s the target. The data and stories presented

in the latest issue of the State of the Internet /

Security illustrate that these trends will likely not

trend downwards in the near future. While gaming

companies continue to innovate and improve their

defenses, these organizations must also continue

to educate their consumers on how to protect and

defend themselves. When consumers and businesses

follow best practices, we might even see a limit on the

impact of credential abuse campaigns.

[state of the internet] / security

Web Attacks & Gaming Abuse: Executive Summary 4

Top Source Countries – Gaming

COUNTRY TOTAL ATTACKS GLOBAL RANK*

Russia 2,674,783,777 02

Canada 1,486,753,732 04

United States 1,435,752, 015 01

Vietnam 617,097,561 09

India 599, 317,123 06

*All Verticals