How to Trace a DDOS Attack

DDOS attacks can cripple an organization's website or portal.

ISPs consider DDOS attacks -- where an attacker floods network connections, Websites, or systems with packets -- one of their biggest threats. Most of these attacks are being waged by botnets -- some as large as tens of thousands of bot machines, according to a recent survey of ISPs by Arbor Networks.

Arbor found an average of 1,200 DDOS attacks each day across 38 ISP networks. On 220 of the last 365 days, there has been at least one DDOS attack of one million packets per second, says Danny McPherson, chief research officer for Arbor Networks.

What is more alarming is that despite reports that some ISPs have experienced fewer DDOS attacks overall during the last six months, there is a DDOS attack underway somewhere on the Internet. It's a matter of quality, not quantity: "When DDOSes do occur, they are done with much greater purpose than they used to be".

Read the full article here which includes the tracing indicators and steps to stop the DDOS attacks. It is not that easy though as it involves investigative work by the ISP and worldwide cooperation among ISPs.