Internet Service Providers, large businesses, tech giants, cloud services, websites, and even small companies are under increasing attacks from cyber threats. The latest Q3 DDoS Attack Trends report from Cloudflare highlights some very concerning patterns threatening routine online operations.
Researchers who compiled the latest Cloudflare report, claim there were several “record-setting HTTP DDoS attacks, terabit-strong network-layer attacks, and one of the largest botnets ever deployed.”
Ransom DDoS attacks on Voice over IP (VoIP) service providers on the rise everywhere:
The United States of America continues to remain the most attacked country in cyberspace. However, threat actors are also looking at companies in the UK, and Canada.
Cloudflare released its DDoS Attack Trends report this week capping #recordsetting that saw a number of #devastating #attacks on #VoIP services. Cloudflare researchers said they saw the several "record-setting HTTP DDoS attacks @glenbenjamin @laninfotechhttps://t.co/lGNrjluxMc pic.twitter.com/gam3003ruo
— Glen Benjamin (@glenbenjamin) November 7, 2021
The report indicates computer software, gaming, gambling, IT and Internet companies were particularly vulnerable to attacks. DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks targeting these sectors rose by a whopping 573 percent compared to the previous quarter.
It is interesting to note that countries rapidly emerging in the Tech Sector is in the crosshairs of attackers. It is quite likely that threat actors want to hit nascent startups and make money quickly.
Cloudflare dns ddos/prot dyn/dns blah blah metrics for the past 4 days on https://t.co/alLP8nibYM pic.twitter.com/wYa1TZkqu3
— Xoge (@NoOneCa13918207) November 5, 2021
“Morocco recorded the highest DDoS activity in the third quarter globally. Three out of every 100 packets were part of a DDoS attack. While SYN and RST attacks remain the dominant attack method used by attackers, Cloudflare observed a surge in DTLS amplification attacks — recording a 3,549% increase QoQ.”
“Attackers targeted (and continue to target going into the fourth quarter this year) VoIP service providers with massive DDoS attack campaigns in attempts to bring SIP infrastructure down.”
Cyberattacks increased in volume, traffic, and the number of packets, signaling increasing infrastructure spending and victims?
The report indicates attackers have settled on sizes ranging from 500 Mbps to 10 Gbps. The number of attacks in this range increased from 126 percent to 289 percent compared to the previous quarter.
This trend once again demonstrates that a majority of the attacks are indeed smaller, but the number of ‘larger’ attacks is also increasing. This suggests that more attackers are garnering more resources to launch larger attacks,” the report found.
DDoS Attack Trends for Q3 2021 by Cloudflarehttps://t.co/A66AdV2P8V
confirms the renaissance of DDoS in all flavours#ddos
— ZeroBS_GmbH (@zero_B_S) November 5, 2021
Simply put, attackers are putting in more effort and resources. These attacks are way more organized and sophisticated.
Such patterns indicate threat actors aren’t launching attacks for disruption alone. There’s clearly an interest in earning a payout from causing trouble in data delivery.
The third quarter of 2021 was a busy quarter for DDoS attackers. Cloudflare observed and mitigated record-setting HTTP DDoS attacks, terabit-strong network…Read more: https://t.co/5zlxFELcAT
— webnow🌎 (@webnowcompany) November 4, 2021
More than 94 percent of DDoS attacks lasted way less than an hour. However, attacks lasting for a longer duration, usually ranging between 1 and 2 hours, are also increasing.
It is important to note that a longer duration of attacks does necessarily not make them more dangerous or effective. Digital Shadows cyber threat intelligence analyst Stefano De Blasi observed that cybercriminals will likely begin leveraging DDoS attacks to conduct financially motivated campaigns.