The two new scrubbing centers announced by Akamai will be deployed in Chennai and Mumbai, to help Indian businesses guard against DDoS attacks. Credit: Martyn Williams / IDG Cloud cybersecurity company Akamai has announced two new India-based scrubbing centers, as part of its global infrastructure investment strategy.With plans to deploy the scrubbing centers in Chennai and Mumbai, Akamai aims to provide protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to local and global businesses in India.A scrubbing center refers to a centralized data cleansing station where traffic is analyzed and malicious traffic, such as DDoS traffic or known vulnerabilities and exploits, is removed.The launch targets growing threat avenue in IndiaA recent computer emergency response team (CERT) report revealed a 256% jump in cybersecurity incidents within two years ending 2021, with a total of 1,402,809 reported incidents. The report also noted the attacks will grow in numbers and sophistication in 2023. “India’s economy has been experiencing significant growth in recent years with the emergence of new startups and established multinational companies alike, but the vibrant business scene also increases the surface for cyberattacks, which means that a local focus is essential,” Sid Pisharoti, regional vice president for Akamai India Operations, said in a press release. “This launch coupled with our growing cybersecurity portfolio and the 2,000+ security professionals operating in India, Akamai demonstrates our recognition of this key global market and our commitment towards safeguarding our customer’s data and solidifying our presence in the Indian market.”DDoS attacks are a growing global concern as they have recently been used in conjunction with ransomware to form a triple extortion ransomware attack. Also known as the ransomware distributed denial of service (RDDoS) attacks, these add on a third layer of extortion apart from data encryption and exfiltration. Businesses already experiencing ransomware incidents are additionally threatened with a DDoS attack to extort further. Moreover, DDoS is also a main attack vector used with advanced persistent threats (APTs) carried out by state-sponsored hackers, criminal organizations, or other malicious actors, making it an even bigger concern.Akamai’s scrubbing centers use Anycast-based routing that enables mitigation of DDoS attacks close to their point of origin, helping companies keep data within their borders.Anycast routing is a technique used to distribute incoming traffic across multiple servers, which can help to mitigate the impact of DDoS attacks. When an attacker sends a flood of traffic to a specific IP address, the anycast network will redirect traffic to the closest server or device. This reduces the traffic that any individual server needs to handle, making it easier for the network to absorb and mitigate the attack.Earlier this year, Akamai also announced Akamai Qualified Computing Partner Program and said it is looking at building half a dozen major compute centers in India. Related content news UK government plans 2,500 new tech recruits by 2025 with focus on cybersecurity New apprenticeships and talent programmes will support recruitment for in-demand roles such as cybersecurity technologists and software developers By Michael Hill Sep 29, 2023 4 mins Education Industry Education Industry Education Industry news UK data regulator orders end to spreadsheet FOI requests after serious data breaches The Information Commissioner’s Office says alternative approaches should be used to publish freedom of information data to mitigate risks to personal information By Michael Hill Sep 29, 2023 3 mins Government Cybercrime Data and Information Security feature Cybersecurity startups to watch for in 2023 These startups are jumping in where most established security vendors have yet to go. By CSO Staff Sep 29, 2023 19 mins CSO and CISO Security news analysis Companies are already feeling the pressure from upcoming US SEC cyber rules New Securities and Exchange Commission cyber incident reporting rules don't kick in until December, but experts say they highlight the need for greater collaboration between CISOs and the C-suite By Cynthia Brumfield Sep 28, 2023 6 mins Regulation Data Breach Financial Services Industry Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe