DDoS assaults increase as cybercriminals goal cloud suppliers and ransomware victims
2021 noticed an array of record-breaking DDoS assaults, many aimed toward cloud firms and ransomware victims who resisted paying the ransom, says Radware.
The DDoS, or distributed denial of service, assault has lengthy been a well-liked methodology for cyberattack. By flooding a web site with extra requests than it might probably deal with, a hacker may cause the location to decelerate and finally crash, making it unavailable for legit customers. However in 2021, cybercriminals expanded the forms of organizations on the receiving finish of DDoS assaults. A report launched Thursday by cybersecurity agency Radware appears to be like at how DDoS assaults surged and unfold final yr.
As detailed in its 2021-2022 Global Threat Analysis Report, Radware discovered that the variety of DDoS assaults in 2021 jumped by 37% per buyer over 2020. On its finish, Radware found and blocked 580,766 DDoS assaults for all of final yr, with a mean of 1,591 per day.
A lot of assaults surfaced in the course of the center of the yr as they began to leap all through the primary two weeks of June earlier than reaching a excessive of 9,824 on July 10, 2021. By the tip of the yr, the common variety of assaults seen by Radware had decreased to a degree corresponding to the tip of 2020.
Probably the most attacked industries final yr have been gaming and retail, each accounting for 22% of the recorded assaults. Different sectors closely hit have been the federal government with 13% of all assaults, healthcare with 12%, know-how with 9% and finance with 6%. Europe, the Center East and Africa (EMEA) mixed with America accounted for 40% of all DDoS assaults in 2021, whereas the Asia Pacific area registered 20% of them.
SEE: Cheat sheet: Distributed denial of service (DDoS) assaults (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
Except for the sheer quantity, DDoS assaults elevated in severity. Such assaults are measured based mostly on the quantity of bandwidth used. For 2021, the common quantity in assaults seen by Radware ranged from 4.6 TB to 51.65 TB. The longer a DDoS assault continues, the better the injury. For the yr, the common assault witnessed by Radware lasted between 3.65 hours and eight.72 hours.
Even additional, DDoS attackers have been increasing their vary of victims. Previously, these sorts of assaults have instantly focused web site homeowners for political or profiteering causes or to distract them from different malicious actions. However more and more, cloud suppliers are being hit since a single such assault can impression a lot of clients. Within the fourth quarter of 2021, Microsoft Azure suffered the largest DDoS assault ever recorded, with a measurement of three.47 Tbps.
SEE: Safety incident response coverage (TechRepublic Premium)
Legal gangs who specialise in ransomware are additionally leaping on the DDoS bandwagon. In a tactic referred to as triple extortion, attackers will begin by encrypting the compromised information of a victimized group. They’ll then threaten to leak the info publicly if the ransom isn’t paid. And as a 3rd step, they’ll launch a DDoS assault in opposition to the sufferer as extra strain to coax them to pay the ransom. This strategy has been utilized by such teams as SunCrypt, RagnarLocker, Avaddon, DarkSide and Yanluowang, in accordance with Radware.
“The statistics inform a narrative about dangerous actors,” Radware director of menace intelligence Pascal Geenens mentioned in a press launch. “They’re getting smarter, extra organized, and extra focused in pursuing their aims — whether or not that be for cash, fame, or a political trigger. As well as, cybercriminals are shifting their assault patterns — from leveraging bigger assault vectors to combining a number of vectors in additional complex-to-mitigate campaigns. Ransomware operators and their associates, which now embrace DDoS-for-hire actors, are working with an entire new degree of professionalism and self-discipline — one thing that we’ve not seen earlier than.”
To assist your group fight DDoS assaults, Radware provides a information on How To Protect Yourself Before, During and After a DDoS Attack. The information consists of key tips about defending your self from an preliminary assault, responding to an assault and analyzing your scenario within the aftermath of an assault.
