Record numbers of consumers are going online for commerce, news and OTT video entertainment and that’s making the world’s top Internet-centric businesses and organisations increasingly motivated to defend themselves against cyberattacks that can disrupt customer access and experience. This is the assessment of NTT Com, a leading global carrier that owns and operates one of the world’s largest IP backbones, the Global IP Network.
The tier-1 Global IP Network is consistently ranked among the top networks worldwide, covering the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, and provides the best possible environment for content, data and video transport through a single autonomous system number (AS 2914).
A Proactive Approach to Network Security
“Through the first half of 2017 we’ve seen an increased demand for network security – especially for services that allow for more proactive and robust defenses against DDoS attacks,” said Michael Wheeler, executive vice president of NTT Communications Global IP Network. “In previous years, many businesses and organisations viewed these types of protections as ‘optional’ where, today, they are viewed as ‘must haves’.”
Most industry analysts expect that DDoS attacks will continue to grow in frequency, size and complexity. This reality is forcing a lot of businesses to re-assess their ability to pre-empt, as well as respond to, increasingly sophisticated attacks – including ones that target Internet of Things (IoT) devices that can be especially vulnerable.
“With the number of cyberattacks continuing to grow, our research shows that more than one-third of businesses and organisations around the world have assembled formal incident response plans,” added Wheeler. “We anticipate that this will increase dramatically in the year ahead.”
NTT Com recently announced the expansion of its DDoS Protection Services, offering Global IP Network customers the opportunity to choose the tier of support they need based on their own cyber defense strategies and plans.
Dominating Internet Traffic
OTT video providers including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime are surging in popularity with half of U.S. broadband subscribers paying for at least one OTT video service and 30 percent paying for two or more, according to a recent report by IBB Consulting.
“OTT video will continue to grow in popularity and we believe that both video on demand (VOD) and live streaming will dominate internet traffic in years to come,” said Wheeler.
Global carriers and OTTs are huge engines that fuel the internet ecosystem but, in some cases, their relationship can seem tumultuous and adversarial. Moving forward, Wheeler expects these two industry segments will come together in the form of powerful partnerships.
‘The relationships will most likely be mutually beneficial in the long term as OTT video transmissions and massive amounts of data are key to network growth. If OTTs and global carriers can’t find ways to positively work together, the end user will always suffer. And usually one of those other two players will suffer as well,” Wheeler added.
Businesses on ‘the Edge’
While most major markets around the world are close to large scale Point of Presence (PoP) and data center installations that ensure fast and efficient delivery of data, many businesses and consumers in tier-2 and -3 markets are further away.
“If data only resides in big tier-1 markets, there are hundreds of millions of users around the world that are far away from that data,” said Wheeler. “This is particularly important in Latin America, Asia and Africa. If all the data in Asia was stored in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, the negative impact on accessibility, latency and efficiency for consumers would be significant.”
To avoid delays, many global corporations – especially Internet-centric businesses in areas such as e-commerce, gaming, social media and OTT – and even large-scale government agencies are setting-up installations closer to the edge. Even in the U.S., some of the large colocation companies are setting up facilities outside the traditional, larger markets. This proliferation of data sitting on the edge enhances consumer experience and results in higher utilisation of the services, benefiting everyone involved in the internet ecosystem.
For more information please visit www.gin.ntt.net.
