The return of the long-lasting DDoS attack and the rise of RDoS
The latest DDoS intelligence report from Kaspersky Lab shows that long-lasting attacks are making a comeback.
The longest attack in the second quarter of this year was active for 277 hours (more than 11 days) -- which is a 131 percent increase compared to the first quarter and a current record for the year.
It shows that the geography of incidents has changed too, organizations with online resources located in 86 countries were targeted, compared to 72 countries in Q1. The top 10 most affected countries are, China, South Korea, US, Hong Kong, UK, Russia, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and France -- with Italy and the Netherlands replacing Vietnam and Denmark that were among the top targets in Q1.
Attackers are becoming more interested in raising cash too. Kaspersky has noted a rise in Ransom DDoS (RDoS), where cyber criminals send a message to the victim demanding a ransom that ranges from five to 200 bitcoins. If the company refuses to pay, attackers then threaten to organize a DDoS attack on a critically important online victim resource. Such messages can be accompanied by short-term DDoS attacks to confirm the threats are very real. At the end of June, a large-scale RDoS attempt was made by the group called Armada Collective, who demanded about $315,000 from seven South Korean banks.
"Nowadays, it's not just experienced teams of hi-tech cybercriminals that can be Ransom DDoS-attackers," says Kirill Ilganaev, head of Kaspersky DDoS Protection at Kaspersky Lab. "Any fraudster who doesn’t even have the technical knowledge or skill to organize a full-scale DDoS attack can purchase a demonstrative attack for the purpose of extortion. These people are mostly picking unsavvy companies that don't protect their resources from DDoS in any way and therefore, can be easily convinced to pay ransom with a simple demonstration."
You can read more detail about the findings on the Kaspersky SecureList blog.
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