DDoS attacks target IPv6 networks

data over IPv6 (Internet protocol version 6), according to a report published recently by DDoS mitigation vendor, Arbor Networks, Computerworld reports.

Even though 2011 was the first year when IPv6 DDoS attacks were recorded, such incidents remain rare because they are not economically relevant for Internet criminals, said Bill Cerveny, a senior software quality assurance engineer at Arbor.

According to Application Development Trends, the report, which surveyed network operators, found that because the number of companies switching over to IPv6 has been growing, attackers now see them as legitimate targets worth their time.

Four percent of those who took part in the survey reported that a DDoS attack had been launched against their IPv6 network at least once in the past year.

DDoS attacks use a swarm of computers to swamp a target machine on the Internet with traffic so it is unusable, CNET explains.

Sometimes these attacks are launched from botnets of compromised computers for criminal reasons - but now the top cause is ideology such as that evident in Anonymous' co-ordinated protest attacks.

DDoS attacks send traffic to a particular Internet address, and today the vast majority of those addresses are handled by Internet Protocol version 4, or IPv4. IPv6, which vastly increases the number of possible addresses to deal with the fact that IPv4 is running out of them, is gradually becoming a reality as those with servers and network gear invest in the new network.