Researchers have uncovered a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack campaign that takes advantage of Joomla servers with a vulnerable Google Maps plug-in installed. Akamai's Prolexic Security Engineering & Research Team (PLXsert) worked with PhishLabs' Research, Analysis, and Intelligence Division (R.A.I.D) to analyze malicious traffic coming from multiple Joomla websites, a threat advisory ( PDF ) issued Wednesday said. Through analysis, the teams found that attackers were able to use servers as DDoS zombies due to a vulnerability in a Google Maps plug-in that allows the plug-in to act as a proxy, masking the origin of DDoS attacks. "Attackers spoof the source of the request, causing the results to be sent from the proxy to someone else – their denial of service target," a release from Akamai explained. This year, the company has observed eight Joomla-based DDoS attacks against its customer base, six of which were targeted at the education sector.