Global Events Fuel DDoS Attack Campaigns

Cybercriminals launched around 7.9 million DDoS attacks in the first half of 2023, a 31% increase compared to the previous year. These attacks have been driven by global events such as the Russia-Ukraine war and NATO bids. Finland, Sweden, and other countries have been targeted due to their NATO bids, with Sweden experiencing a massive 500 Gbps attack. DDoS attacks against wireless telecommunications providers also increased, particularly in the APAC region due to the shift to 5G networks. NETSCOUT has observed a rise in HTTP/S application layer attacks and DNS reflection/amplification volumes. Adversaries are evolving their tactics by using bulletproof hosts and proxy networks for attacks. Carpet-bombing attacks and DNS water-torture attacks have become more prevalent. The top targeted industries include telecom, data processing hosting, e-commerce, and insurance. Adversaries often reuse abusable infrastructure, and a small number of nodes are responsible for a significant number of attacks.