7 Surprising Findings From Akamai’s 4Q13 State of the Internet Report

by Sean Michael Kerner

According to Akamai, China was the top originating country for attack traffic in the fourth quarter of 2013, representing 43 percent of all attack traffic.

Microsoft Directory Services (DS), which sits on Port 445, was once again the single most attacked network service. Port 445 Microsoft DS attacks represented 30 percent of attack volume in the fourth quarter, up from 23 percent in the third quarter of 2013.

The Internet keeps on getting faster, with the global average connection speed now at 3.8M bps, which is a 27 percent year-over-year gain. The country with the highest average connection speed is South Korea, with an average speed of 21.9M bps. The U.S. is tenth, at 10M bps.

The global average peak speed, which represents the fastest speeds seen by Akamai globally, is also growing. The global average peak connection to the Internet speed hit 23.2M bps in the fourth quarter of 2013 for a 38 percent year-over-year gain.

Within the United States, Virginia topped the list of states, with an average connection speed of 14.4M bps during the quarter, for a 53 percent year-over-year gain.

When it comes to peak connection speeds, Virginia is only third at 59.2M bps while Massachusetts tops the list at 63.8M bps.

IPv6 traffic is also growing, though it varies based on the network provider. Time Warner Cable had one of the highest growth rates for IPv6 traffic sent to Akamai in the fourth quarter of 2013 at 56 percent, though it’s still only 2.9 percent of Time Warner Cable’s traffic.