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 Cyber Security Council CEO reflects on a year of progress Professor Simon Hepburn sits down with broadcaster ITN to discuss Council’s work around cybersecurity professional standards, careers and learning, and outreach and diversity. By Michael Hill Sep 27, 2023 3 mins Government Government Government news FIDO Alliance certifies security of edge nodes, IoT devices Certification demonstrates that products are at low risk of cyberthreats and will interoperate securely. By Michael Hill Sep 27, 2023 3 mins Certifications Internet Security Security Hardware news analysis Web app, API attacks surge as cybercriminals target financial services The financial services sector has also experienced an increase in Layer 3 and Layer 4 DDoS attacks. By Michael Hill Sep 27, 2023 6 mins Financial Services Industry Cyberattacks Application Security news Immersive Labs adds custom 'workforce exercising' for each organizational role With the new workforce exercising capability, CISOs will be able to see each role’s cybersecurity readiness, risk areas, and exercise progress. By Shweta Sharma Sep 27, 2023 3 mins Security Software 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