Proton

A brief update regarding ongoing DDoS incidents

As few weeks back, we sent a notice to the Proton community regarding the DDoS attacks that we have been facing. Today we would like to provide a brief update of the situation.

  • Starting on June 27th, Proton Mail started to be hit by sustained DDoS attacks.
  • The attack campaign continues to this day, but there has been little to no user impact.
  • Thus far the attacks have included:
    • Rapidly morphing DDoS attacks with the combination of SYN floods, TCP handshake violations (first packets are not SYNs), IPv4 TCP SYN floods, TCP Zero Sequence, ACK Floods, NTP nonstandard port floods, and reflection attacks on SSDP, NTP, Chargen, LDAP and Memcache protocols.
    • Pulsed/Burst DDoS attacks, with multiple attack vectors and rapid changes within minutes.
    • Attacks up to 25Gbs in volume. This attack was largely challenging to handle because of its complexity, not the size/volume. No unknown attack vectors were used, but they were rapidly changing, and hence the complexity.

Since November 2015, Proton Mail has been protected by Radware’s Cloud DDoS Protection Services, and in this instance, Radware was able to successfully mitigate nearly all of these attacks. However, due to the nature of the ferocity and attack ingenuity, some of the attacks were only partially mitigated and briefly resulted in some service outages at the outset of the campaign.

In order to improve mitigation performance, Radware immediately upgraded their scrubbing centers and processes to provide better protection against rapidly changing attacks. As a result, attack mitigation through the upgraded Radware scrubbing center has been successful in the past couple weeks.

After the upgrade, we have found that Radware’s technology actually works well against rapidly evolving attacks, and the automatic mitigation capabilities are essential for reducing the response times when coming under attack frequently. We also deeply appreciate the support that we have received from the team at Radware, and the fact that they made defending Proton Mail a priority. Going forward, we plan to utilize a multi-layered DDoS defense strategy and will continue to partner with Radware on the first line of defense.

We appreciate your patience through these attacks and look forward continuing to provide you with secure and private email services.

Articoli correlati

how to write a professional email
en
Easy steps and examples for writing a professional email. See how Proton Mail can make your emails stand out.
Email etiquette: What it is and why it matters |
en
Find out what email etiquette is with key rules and examples, why it is important, and how Proton Mail can help.
A cover image for a blog about how to create an incident response plan that shows a desktop computer and a laptop with warning signs on their screens
en
Do you have an incident response plan to protect your business from financial and reputational damage? Find out how Proton Pass for Business can help you stay safe.
Shared with me in Proton Drive for desktop user interface
en
  • Per le aziende
  • Aggiornamenti dei prodotti
  • Proton Drive
We've improved Proton Drive for Windows to make it easier to securely collaborate with others from your desktop.
Smart glasses that have been modified for facial surveillance and dox you in real time, finding your personal information after seeing your face.
en
Students modified smart glasses to find someone’s personal data after just looking at them. This is why we must minimize data collection.
The cover image for a blog explaining what password encryption is and how Proton Pass helps users with no tech experience benefit from it
en
Password encryption sounds complicated, but anyone can benefit from it. We explain what it is and how it’s built into Proton Pass for everyone to use.