At the heart of every business operation lies a backend infrastructure that is as important as running the business operations. Data Centre Services provide customers with peace of mind by enabling them to focus on their business whilst abstracting the complexity involved in deploying, operating and managing complex IT solutions.

At BMIT Technologies we do this by bringing together our best-in-class infrastructure and a talented team of people with expertise across various technologies, to deliver a portfolio which spans across three inter-linked categories of services which form the basis for our IT-as-a-Service offering.

BMIT Technologies is a public company, listed on the Malta Stock Exchange. With over 17 years of experience, we are Malta’s longest established data centre services operator, running multiple facilities and with the largest in terms of total rack footprint and market share.

Why us? Key differentiators to alternative providers

Expertise

We have been offering datacentre services for more than 17 years and today host hundreds of customers, from very large operators to small start-ups coming from diverse industries including online gaming, financial services, technology and more. Our scale and experience provide us with a sound understanding of the needs from both a technology and regulatory perspective. Our expertise does not stop at hosting, or co-location of full racks, half racks or just U sizes, but extends to provide a wide range of datacentre services, management of infrastructure, hybrid set-ups and much more.

Multiple-sites

We are the only data centre in Malta to operate two data centre facilities, both of which are PCI-DSS and ISO27001 certified and staffed 24x365. This enables us to offer our customers various colocation deployment scenarios (including single-site deployments, active-passive disaster recovery (DR), active-active geo redundant deployments) and at the same time increases the resiliency of our services since our sites are interconnected to further minimise the possibility that a single site remains isolated from an internet connectivity outage. In turn, our datacentres are inter-connected to points of presence we have in Germany and Italy, through our high-speed, private international network.

Private International High-speed Network

Our private network interconnects our data centre in Malta and our international points-of-presence  in Italy and Germany over multiple fibres and geographical routes and is protected by ourmulti-tier DDOS mitigation system – called BMIT Managed  DDOS Shield. This network is a fully redundant, fibre network which utilises multiple submarine links from Malta to mainland Europe and also via multiple links being provided by Lumen, Telecom Italia Sparkle, GTT, Fastweb and other providers. In order to ensure unparalleled internet connectivity quality and performance, IP bandwidth is provided via two leading Tier 1 global IP providers, Lumen and Telia Carrier, also in a redundant manner. This unique approach provides our customers with greater choice, flexibility, network resilience, cost-saving and speed to market – by integrating IP services from multiple providers, our customers have the fully-redundant, business-grade Internet access they need, without the expense and complexity of dealing with multiple providers.

Technical Expertise and Focus

We employ a team of  professionals who hold multiple technology certifications and vendor-qualifications (including Microsoft, Azure, VMware and Cisco), and are fully focused on delivering data centre and cloud services. This enables us to make available a span of technical expertise to our customer – from design, to implementation, to ongoing support.

Public, Private and Hybrid-Cloud Enabler

We operate multiple local public cloud platforms, including Azure Stack Hub.  These are offered together with a range of private cloud solutions, as well as hybrid set-ups for an increasing number of customers.  Our MultiCloud Connect quickly enables hybrid cloud scenarios, interconnecting any private infrastructure hosted in our facilities to public cloud services such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and many others.  This approach is a best-of-breed approach since it allows customers to benefit from the facilities of global cloud providers, whilst ensuring that critical data and resources are hosted and  stored in Malta. At the same time our partnership with Microsoft also enables us to offer Microsoft-hosted public cloud services including Azure and Microsoft 365 (and what previously were Office 365) services.  Finally our special relationship with HPE and Microsoft, including our several Gold Status credentials provide us the ability to design and implement private cloud infrastructures

With businesses increasingly dependent on the internet connectivity, data centres are a vital component of the global economy and every business in operation. Data center facilities are more than just a safe and secure facility with space that is equipped with reliable power, and internet connectivity. Hosting services have become a valuable addition to many businesses as they prove to be a dependable extension of their IT team. That is why data centers in modern business set up are increasingly becoming an essential factor for success.

How Can BMIT Technologies Help?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy, and innovation. As a Malta-based company, at BMIT, we rely on our expertise in data centres, cloud solutions, and productivity solutions to enable your company to reach new heights.

Want to learn more about data centres? Contact us, and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly.

Smart devices are becoming commonplace, and not just for personal use. IDC estimates that by 2025, there will be at least 41.6 billion smart devices connected to the Internet and that figure is getting closer every day – reaching more than 10 million in 2021 already. Multiple sources report that 83% of organizations have improved their efficiency by introducing IoT technology.

While your business may not be interested in an electric toothbrush that tells you if you’re brushing long enough, there are tons of other smart devices that you could go for. Some of the examples are smart security cameras for better security monitoring, smart light bulbs to save energy, smart locks to make office entry easier, smart atmosphere controllers and smart air purifiers to improve the work environment, and many more. It’s even possible that you might have some of these devices in your office already – even more likely if you’re working from your home. But are you aware of the security risks associated with these devices?

Your company probably pays a lot of attention to the security of web applications, internal networks and VPN connections, desktop computers and laptops both in the office and used by remote workers, possibly even mobile phones. But it’s quite common that Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as those listed above, are exempt from any security policies. Unfortunately, they are often the first point of entry for malicious hackers because their manufacturers also often don’t pay much attention to security.

What can happen if your IoT device is hacked?

It is quite probable that your IoT device connects to the Internet via one of your internal networks. And that means that once a malicious hacker gets into that device, they have access to resources, which are normally not exposed to external threats, and therefore less meticulously protected. The attacker may scan your network and try to get into other systems. Some IoT devices, depending on their operating system, may even allow the attacker to introduce ransomware to your internal network.

While the above is the worst-case scenario, there are other annoying consequences of such an attack. Malicious hackers often take over smart devices for two primary purposes: to use them in DDoS attacks and to install cryptocurrency miners. In the first case, your business becomes an unwilling agent in a criminal operation against another business – not the best way to maintain a good reputation. In the second case, you help criminals fund their campaigns – at a small cost of an increased electric bill and lower efficiency of the device.

All in all, having a smart device that is prone to hacking is not a good idea. But how common are attacks against insecure devices? Armin Ziaie Tabari, Xinming Ou, and Anoop Singhal – researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Florida conducted a very complex, three-year study of IoT security and came up with some interesting results.

Luring malicious hackers to fake IoT devices

The researchers came up with an ingenious way to know how often IoT devices are targeted and by what attacks – they used a massive network of honeypots. The term honeypot means a fake system or device that is made to resemble a real one. However, such a fake system or device is placed in a safe environment and if it’s hacked, it can do no harm – but lets researchers observe the hacking process.

In this study, researchers used open-source and commercial honeypot software to create network endpoints, which would look to an attacker just like IoT devices and which were configured to be intentionally insecure. Such honeypots were placed in honeypot server farms, which in turn were placed both on on-premises servers and in AWS/Azure instances in multiple countries. Once these honeypots were up and running, the endpoint addresses were submitted to two search engines that help find IoT devices: Censys and Shodan. The bait was set, now all the researchers needed to do is wait for malicious hackers to find these devices and attempt to hack into them.

The experiment took three years – that’s much more than needed to see a lot of attacks on the honeypots. That amount of time was required for researchers to analyze the data from each wave of attacks and then adjust configurations and defences to see how effective they are in preventing further attacks. This way, the experiment not only provided lots of information on the threat landscape but also showed the efficiency of protection techniques.

The shocking results of the experiment

During the three years of the experiment, fake IoT devices were attacked by malicious hackers 22.6 million times. Over 75% of these attacks were aimed at honeypots that were made to emulate the most common software used for smart devices: Busybox. Fewer attacks targeted honeypots made to resemble typical smart security cameras and those that emulated Windows-based systems.

Attackers used different methods to get into the honeypots, including vulnerabilities unique to devices from specific manufacturers and typical default username/password combinations. Almost a million attacks were attempts to log into the honeypot using the combination: admin and 1234. Fewer attempts were based on combinations such as root with an empty password, admin with an empty password, admin/admin, and similar.

The attacks were meant mostly to make the hacked device part of a DDoS bot network or to install the Mirai cryptocurrency miner. The Windows-based honeypots were also often infected with viruses, trojans, and rootkits. Once the attackers acquired access to the honeypots, they also attempted several types of further attacks aimed at internal networks, including finding other systems connected to the same network and scanning these systems for potentially open ports.

What does this mean for you?

The huge number of attacks on these fake smart devices is the best proof that your smart device is most probably undergoing such attack attempts too. What can you do to protect yourself?

• First of all, ensure that your smart devices don’t use the default username and password combinations and establish secure, long passwords for administrative access.
• Second of all, make sure that your IoT devices are connected to isolated networks – ones that don’t let attackers move any further.
• Third of all, configure your firewalls and web application firewalls to protect your IoT devices as much as possible by locking down ports and typical attack patterns.
• Fourth of all, if your smart devices enable firmware updates, make such updates part of your general security policy, just as you regularly update your server software for security reasons.
• Finally, research online whether devices that you use are susceptible to certain types of attacks and if no solution is available from the manufacturer, consider scrapping them and purchasing secure alternatives instead.

At BMIT Technologies, we guide you through the whole process of designing and setting up your secure networks, both at your premises as well as in the cloud or our multiple data centres. Get in touch with us and let’s discuss how best to ensure your business is as secure as possible.

Hybrid IT is the future of business technology, and every company should start embracing it right now. Don't be left behind. Hybrid IT, which combines cloud services with on-premises technology, gives you the benefits of the cloud while still allowing you to use your own data centres and other on-premises technologies.

What Is Hybrid IT and How Does It Work?

Hybrid IT is a blend of on-premises and cloud services. IT is an evolution from multi-platform usage. It emphasises several key concepts, including improved resource coordination, governance, and synchronisation for better use, better agility, and improved reliability. This is where most IT departments are now, due to the need for a flexible and scalable way to support the dynamic workloads in today's modern organisations.

Hybrid IT can be a flexible solution for organisations looking to create a scalable and cost-effective environment. Hybrid IT bridges gaps in data accessibility, provide an alternate location for sensitive data and offers a backup if the cloud goes down.

The Benefits of Hybrid IT Are Plentiful

A hybrid cloud solution could be the best choice for storage and cloud hosting for small businesses. It can offer:

Increased Agility and Innovation

Companies that use this approach to IT and cloud services can efficiently respond to changes in business needs, customer requirements, and technological advances. Hybrid IT also helps companies innovate because it offers them greater flexibility in deploying resources, such as reducing costs by using cloud services instead of building on-premises infrastructure.

Improved Scalability and Control

By combining private and public cloud infrastructure, businesses can scale quickly when needed to support peak periods. This creates a more dynamic environment that's easier to manage than a fixed-capacity private cloud setup. It also gives you more control. Thus, allowing you to provide additional resources as they're needed while maintaining full ownership over your data.

Reduces Costs

By combining on-premises infrastructure with cloud-based services, Hybrid IT helps companies save money by allowing them to pay for only what they need. It also minimises spending on hardware and software upgrades. Instead, you can use existing tools and infrastructure to support new projects without spending more cash on new solutions.

How Can BMIT Technologies Help?

Today's businesses are under increasing pressure to be flexible and adaptable – Hybrid IT is the solution. Our BMIT team of experts can help you leverage the benefits of a hybrid IT solution to address these challenges and simplify your IT operations. Contact us today for more information on how we can support your business.

On August 2^nd, 2021, Microsoft released a new managed Virtual Desktop solution, Windows 365. Now rewind a few months back and Microsoft renames their only virtual cloud desktop solution, Windows Virtual Desktop known as WVD to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). This change raised a few eyebrows until they announced the Windows 365 solution, then all made perfect sense. But it left everyone with one simple question “Which solution should I use?”

Main difference between AVD and Windows 365

AVD is a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) running on the cloud, providing IT admins with a platform to spin up compute resources. With the possibility of allowing simultaneous users to log in to their virtual desktop session from one single VM. AVD is quite a scalable solution, allowing the administrator to scale the cloud server up and down depending on the business needs.

Windows 365 serves the same purpose i.e. offering its users a virtual cloud PC / virtual desktop session with Microsoft native apps, user applications and line of business apps. The difference with AVD is that Windows 365 infrastructure is mainly managed by Microsoft. Why mainly? Because the Enterprise edition it provides the organisation control on the Azure network resources letting the organisation configure the Azure vNet, which includes static IPs, Azure firewall, VPNs, and more. But this network resource consumption is at an extra cost to the organisation, hence why you will, strangely enough, find that the Enterprise plans are cheaper than the Business plans.

Another major difference is that while AVD allows simultaneous users/sessions per VM, Windows 365 only allows a 1:1, this means that for every VM only a single user is assigned a license through Microsoft 365 admin portal.

Selecting the appropriate solution

On the contrary, if the user has specific working hours through the month, AVD VMs can be automatically switched off at certain hours (such as a branch offices workforce). Then using Pay-As-You-Go VMs on AVD will be cheaper in the long run. However, the saving needs to be justified depending on the quantity of users and the hours required versus the IT admin resources required to manage and maintain the AVD infrastructure.

If the desktop usage is basic and thus does not require 1:1 performance, the VM resources can be utilised by multiple users such as call centres or other similar environments. Whilst the performance may not compare to a 1:1 session, the overall business savings using pooled resources on AVD is noticeable compared to Windows 365. The savings are even more significant when you have a scenario where your organisation will utilise pooled resources and uses auto-scaling (not to run the VMs on a 24x7). This allows the VMs to be switched off and using Pay-As-You-Go will allow the organisation to get the optimal performance and reduce running costs.

Conclusion

AVD and Windows 365 Enterprise are one and the same using the same platform and address “mostly” the same business needs. With the major difference being that AVD is completely managed and maintained by the customer and can offer simultaneous sessions over a single VM. So it boils down to the level of IT capabilities to implement and maintain the infrastructure (VDI) and the operational cost.

Windows 365 Enterprise will be more attractive to SMBs since it is less complex and requires less IT capabilities. Still, it should not be shrugged off by IT Admins or larger enterprises as there are certain use-cases showing that having a mix will optimise their operations.

Choosing the right solution for your business or your users can be challenging, and this is where you can take advantage of BMIT Technologies. Harnessing the skilled resources in Azure to offer support services, deployments, and even IT architectural design needs. Engage with us today, to achieve the required capabilities, identify the business needs and the right solution.

Deciding where to host your company's servers can be overwhelming, especially if you don't have experience in the field. There are many factors to consider, including cost, location, network quality, and service reliability. While it can be tempting to save money by hosting your servers in your office, this isn't always the best choice.

Benefits of Colocation

Reliability

Colocation providers guarantee you access to power and internet connectivity. By choosing to host in a colocation data centre, you're, indeed, taking advantage of 24/7 constant security power and cooling systems. These measures mean you can trust that your services will be up and running at all times. That means fewer downtime issues, which equates to greater profitability. Most providers also offer backup generators in case of complete power failure at their data centre.

Speed

Colocation ensures your servers are always running in peak condition. Colocation also reduces downtime because you can access hosting facilities 24/7 with a login provided by you. Should something go wrong, it's quick and easy to log in and make repairs or adjustments to get everything back up and running quickly.

Colocation Performance

Most electronic equipment works at its optimal level only when kept in a specific range of temperatures and humidity. Anything outside that optimal range can cause trouble—and that means it's more difficult to keep those things working properly. Colocation facilities have access to high-end climate control systems, ensuring that their servers run well. This also helps owners save money on repairs and replacements.

Security

Colocation providers offer physical security to ensure that no one unauthorised gains access to a colo facility. This means using biometric scanning systems, digital surveillance, and even lock-and-key technology.

Scalability

One of the colocation's most compelling selling points is scalability. You can always add hardware to an existing physical server or add a new server to an existing virtual server. This flexibility comes at a lower cost than renting dedicated hardware from another provider. It also allows you to scale on-demand and avoid paying upfront capital expenditures in a year where you don't need that much power.

How Can BMIT Technologies Help With Colocation?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy, and innovation. As a Malta-based company, at BMIT, we rely on our expertise in data centres, cloud solutions, and productivity solutions to enable your company to reach new heights.

Want to learn more about colocation? Contact us, and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly.

Ever wondered how many suppliers your organisation is connected to? Most likely you’re connected to multiple service providers; whether it is to receive a consultation, auditing, or support services. These are known to your business as a third party. This can also be extended to an elastic workforce or sub-contracted employees such as developers. Some of these third parties will at some point require access to your systems or business data to conduct their services. The issue is giving third parties access to your sensitive data while also keeping your data secure.

So how do you protect and secure your sensitive business data?

The first thing both businesses do is sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Once that is out of the way Black Fox is ready to start a discovery session on the ERP system. White Lotus has different options and methods to allow the Black Fox personnel access to the system such as:

1. Provide Black Fox a VPN tunnel and credentials to the ERP system
2. Block Fox to visit and conduct session from premises
3. Provide Black Fox with a company device to access the system

1. Method A will come at no cost to White Lotus and requires minimal effort. On the other hand, it also causes high security risks of data leakage. The provider will use his/her own device which enables the provider to have full control of White Lotus data without any preventions.
2. White Lotus will need to make travel arrangements for the provider to visit the premises. This option is not always possible as certain contracted services may take long, thus conducting them remotely is the best option. In any case this scenario makes sense when providing a business device and dedicating a resource to supervise the Black Fox representative. This scenario is only then considered low risk and high effort, costing the business money and resources to lower the risk.
3. Shipping a business device to the provider can be expensive and can also cause delays due to logistical issues. While having a monitored and controlled business device would lower the risk, the administration and logistics make this scenario a nightmare for White Lotus.

So how do you protect your sensitive, core business data?       

With Windows 365 enterprise a business can address these data security risks with a few simple clicks and in a cost-effective manner. The IT admin does not need to worry about device procurement, servicing the hardware, insurance or other logistical nightmares. Simply assign the provider a controlled virtual desktop which is managed and monitored through Microsoft Endpoint Manager. With the ability to set policies such as removing the ability to copy or transfer data between the cloud PC and local devices you can rest assured that your data is secure. Not excluding other services such as VPN and firewall configurations to enhance and protect your business data. So why not give the third-party representative access to a cloud PC?  

How can BMIT Technologies help?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy and innovation.

We propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies. This ensures a greater level of business management and progression.

Want to learn more about how your business can secure its data? Contact us and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly

     

A data centre (British English) or data center (American English) or a datacentre can, in its simplest form, be described as a building or groups of buildings that house computer systems, equipment and similar technologies within them. These can vary from whole racks full of computer servers on one extreme, to virtual servers running on a shared computer setup on the other (the now ubiquitous “cloud” can be considered as a mix of these two).

How have data centres evolved over the years?

Add to this the need to spread data and systems across multiple locations (for example for resilience purposes) and the need to retain some equipment in your office or business, and you have a perfect complex situation. This new reality is often called hybrid IT.

This is happening because although many companies are making the move to the cloud, not everyone can, or is willing, to take the leap. Technical requirements, data visibility and transparency are generally key reasons why many organisations still opt for a datacentre or private cloud set-up vs public cloud. In fact, according to an Uptime Institute survey - 58% of organisations are hesitant to move to the cloud. 

What are the different types of data centres?

On a broad basis, there are 4 different types; let’s take a look at what each one entails.

Enterprise 

Enterprise data centres are normally built for large organisations that use the data centre for their exclusive own internal use.  

Managed Services

Managed Services are data centres that are managed by a specialised company, such as BMIT Technologies, offering solutions such as data storage, computing, connectivity, equipment, infrastructure, private and hybrid cloud solutions and many more, as a fully fletched service to customers. These will be completely or partially managed by the company that owns that data centre.  

Colocation

Colocation or more commonly known as ‘co-lo’ or ‘colo’ facilities are data centres, that offer space for rental within their own data centre to their clients. Colo facilities host and manage the physical infrastructure and security while the client would be responsible for the management and upkeep of the other components.  BMIT Technologies also offers this type of facility.

Cloud

Cloud data centres are virtual data centres hosted by cloud service providers such as BMIT Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM Cloud or a mixture of all. 

How can BMIT Technologies help with data centres?  

With our many years legacy in managing colocation facilities and managed datacentre services, we can help you define the right requirements, select the best type of IT solution you require – within the datacentre or not – and provide solution to deploy, manage and support such environments.  As Malta's leading technology provider, we can propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies.  

Every client we work with requires different solutions. We use our expertise in data centres, cloud and productivity solutions, to get your business to go further than ever before. 

Want to learn more about data centres and how they can elevate your business? Contact us and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly. 

Microsoft has created the first managed Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) product, Windows 365, which is included under the Microsoft 365 suite of online services.

And their message is simple “A Hybrid Windows for a Hybrid World”, positioning their new product for the sudden increase in remote working and targeting businesses who are adopting a Hybrid Workplace.

So, what is a Hybrid Workplace?

Hybrid Workplace is simply a strategy an organisation takes up, defining how and where its employees deliver their work/productivity. To most organisations Hybrid Work is simply a division of time between the organisation’s office and remote, where the employee needs to deliver their work. This strategy is set and bound by policies and agreements between employer and employee.

What challenges does Hybrid Workplace bring?

Splitting your workdays between two or more locations requires the necessary technical resources to be available, to retain the same level of productivity throughout.

Some of these challenges may not apply to every business or employee. So, let’s start with the first challenge; the users must have adequate if not similar hardware & consistent productivity tools and applications between the two (or more) locations. Employees who use multiple devices (usually because one out-performs the other), face certain productivity challenges such as data and application synchronisation issues, and re-loading time.

This also increases the IT administration tasks and headaches to discover and secure unknown devices.

The most prioritised challenge for any organisation is security. BYOD or non-organisational devices increase business risks for data theft, malicious attacks, and other intrusion activities. Phishing and other methods targeting remote workers have increased during the last two years as more vulnerabilities and IT security weaknesses are exposed.

How does Windows 365 address these challenges?

Windows 365 Enterprise provides organisations some control over the network resources to be able to assign IP addresses, create VPN tunnels and configure firewall rules. It also provides the ability to deploy and manage the virtual desktops through Microsoft Endpoint Manager. IT admins can distribute security policies and manage both known and unknown devices more easily. However, the Enterprise version requires the organisation to have an Azure subscription and the users must have an Intune license.

The biggest advantage with Windows 365 is the security element. The physical device becomes of no consequence so whether it is stolen or passed around the household, the organisation data remains secure in the cloud. With policies, IT admins can also restrict transfer of data between the virtual desktop and the local device.

How can BMIT Technologies help with Windows 365?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy and innovation.

We propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies. This ensures a greater level of business management and progression.

Want to learn more about how Windows 365 enables a hybrid workplace? Contact us and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly

Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) is a managed cloud infrastructure service which delivers a virtual desktop to the user through any internet-connected device with a modern browser or remote desktop application.

DaaS has been around for quite some time now (over a decade), but it never really took off on a mass scale. Some reasons being the dependency on a high-speed Internet connection, the cloud compute performance, and the service provider availability. These technical reasons have been addressed as technology evolved, hence why DaaS is now more cost effective and applicable.

In recent years DaaS has found itself in the spotlight, with the sudden increase in remote working and the shift towards a more dynamic employee work experience.

What are the benefits of DaaS?

Quicker deployments

DaaS minimises certain administrative and logistical problems such as procurement, delivery/shipping time, supplier/logistical delays. Management is easier and configurations for the deployment of applications and data are streamlined.

Scalable

DaaS is a solution to meet on-demand requirements whether you are increasing performance of a single virtual desktop or removing it when it is no longer needed. It can allow you to save costs during temporary or seasonal initiatives.

Cost effective

DaaS solutions vary between products or service providers, but you can find the appropriate billing type that suits your organisation. Options can include monthly subscriptions for a more predictable OPEX or consumption-based billing for a more optimised OPEX.

Secure by design

DaaS solution provides any organisation with the peace of mind that the applications and data are securely stored on the cloud. Providing IT administrators with a level of control through policies, allowing them to enhance the security against physical or data theft.

Disaster ready

DaaS can be considered as a critical tool when it comes to business continuity. It can reduce the RTO by provisioning virtual desktops to users on-demand, keeping your employees safe and productive.

When should Organisations consider DaaS?

How can BMIT Technologies help with DaaS?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy and innovation.

We propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies. This ensures a greater level of business management and progression.

Want to learn more about DaaS - Desktop-as-a-Service? Contact us and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly

Our DDoS partner NETSCOUT recently published the NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Issue 7, covering the first half of 2021 and analyzing the DDoS landscape and related threats. Similarly, our connectivity partner, Telia Carrier, released the DDoS Threat Landscape Report 2021, which covers all of 2020. The general result of both these reports is far from optimistic – DDoS attacks keep increasing in size, number, and complexity.

Telia Carrier – DDoS Attacks in 2020

The main takeaways from the Telia Carrier report are as follows:

• The intensity of DDoS attacks keeps increasing. The largest attack in 2020 mitigated by Telia Carrier reached 1.18 Tbps, which is nearly 50% more than in 2019, and the peak attack intensity was 887 Mpps.
• The mitigation volume reached 57 PB and 14 TP which is up 192% and 176% respectively from 2019.
• Carpet bombing (attacking many IPs in a given range at the same time) is becoming more commonplace. Starting from isolated attacks in early 2020, Telia Carrier has observed sustained carpet bombing activity in late 2020.
• The most common types of DDoS attacks were DNS and NTP amplification attacks – this is a shift from small packet SYN attacks that were observed more often in the past and it allows attackers to use fewer resources for larger attacks.

These numbers and trends are proof that the DDoS threat keeps growing, putting more pressure on organizations and requiring efficient mitigation. Interestingly, attack waves mirrored the world lockdown phases due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This suggests that cybercriminals are taking advantage of the pandemic to apply more pressure at the weak spots.

NETSCOUT – DDOS Threat Landscape in 2021 H1

The numbers from NETSCOUT speak for themselves. Telia Carrier’s 2020 already looked bleak but things are even worse off in the first half of 2021.

• The quantity of DDoS attacks in the first half of 2021 reached 5.4 million, which is 11% more than last year in the same period.
• The largest attack observed was 1.5 Tbps (169% more than in 2020 H1) and the fastest was 675 Mpps (16% more than in 2020 H1). At least 4 attacks were terabit-class.
• Seven new attack vectors were observed in 2021 H1, targeting exploitable UDP services and applications.
• The number of vectors in multivector attacks steadily grows – a record-setting attack with 31 vectors was observed in 2021 H1.

NETSCOUT also stated that attackers are more and more likely to perform reconnaissance on their target and design custom attack vectors that are more likely to be effective. Cybercriminals are now more apt to attack global network components such as major DNS resolvers, VPN exit nodes, and IXPs, which makes the DDoS affect a much larger number of parties. A new campaign was also observed targeting authoritative DNS servers for ISPs.

One of the most worrying trends is the fact that ransomware gangs often offer DDoS attacks as part of their service packages. This helps them improve the chances at getting a payout and then enables them to invest into better resources and technology thus leading to more ransomware attacks. This also means that ransomware and DDoS become closely coupled and that we can expect even more DDoS in the future.

Everyone’s the Target

The NETSCOUT report identified the most likely vertical targets for DDoS attacks as: telecommunications, data processing, hosting, publishing, broadcasting, and e-commerce. The biggest attack increase was noticed in the financial sector – especially card processing services.

The report also notes that DDoS attacks are very common in the online gaming community. Such attacks often end up crippling VPNs as well as deal collateral damage to ISPs and other customers connected to the same communications hubs. The gaming community also creates a demand for small-scale DDoS services, which become more commonly available, cheaper, and therefore lead to more DDoS attacks on smaller targets outside this community.

The Conclusions

Both reports clearly show that everything about the DDoS landscape is becoming more threatening. This includes the number of attacks, the size/intensity of attacks, the techniques, and even financing for attackers. The reports also show that while major organizations are still the most affected, the attacks on Internet infrastructure, VPN, as well as the availability of small-scale DDoS services makes SMBs much more likely to suffer DDoS consequences.

The only way to counter this threat is by using reliable services such as the ones offered by BMIT Technologies. You need 24/7 protection and a partner that will react immediately when an attack happens. BMIT offers not just the right partnerships, the right tools, but also the most experience on the local market. We help you make sure that no matter whether the DDoS attack is aimed directly at you or at the infrastructure that you are connected to, it does not affect your business.

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Telia Carrier rebranded to Arelion following the publication of this blog post