Researchers say DDoS attacks have been using memcached servers to amplify attacks using UDP-based packets. The technique was reported by Akamai, Arbor Networks and Cloudflare on Tuesday. Memcached is a type of server used to bolster responsiveness of database-driven websites by improving the memory caching system. There are estimates that there are over 88,000 misconfigured open memcaches servers globally. Vulnerable servers have been identified globally, with the highest concentration in North America and Europe.
Source: https://threatpost.com/misconfigured-memcached-servers-abused-to-amplify-ddos-attacks/130150/