DDoS attacks dominate threats to critical infrastructure
New research from NETSCOUT looking at the DDoS attack landscape shows that this method has evolved into a precision-guided weapon of geopolitical influence capable of destabilizing critical infrastructure.
Based on monitoring of more than eight million DDoS attacks globally in the first half of 2025, the study shows hacktivist groups like NoName057(16) have orchestrated hundreds of coordinated strikes each month, targeting the communications, transportation, energy, and defence sectors.
Threat actors move to smaller more persistent attacks
Threat actors are favoring smaller, persistent attacks under 100,000 requests per second according to a new report. This shift signals a growing dependence on automated, generative AI-enhanced attack tools, reflecting the democratization of DDoS capabilities among loosely coordinated threat actors and new actors entering the scene.
The report from Radware also shows web DDoS attacks rose 39 percent over the second half of 2024. The second quarter set a record with a 54 percent quarter-on-quarter spike.
Gcore launches DDoS protection for enterprise infrastructure
Organizations are increasingly faced with complex DDoS attacks that disrupt operations, increase latency, and compromise network security.
Security solutions company Gcore is launching 'Super Transit', which is not a big van but a cutting-edge DDoS protection and acceleration feature, designed to safeguard enterprise infrastructure while delivering lightning-fast connectivity.
Politically motivated DDoS attacks target critical infrastructure
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have become a dominant means of waging cyberwarfare linked to socio-political events such as elections, civil protests and policy disputes, according to the latest DDoS Threat Intelligence Report from NetScout.
Throughout the year, DDoS attacks have been intricately tied to social and political events, including Israel experiencing a 2,844 percent surge linked to hostage rescues and political conflicts, Georgia enduring a 1,489 percent increase during the lead-up to the passage of the 'Russia Bill', and Mexico having a 218 percent increase during national elections.
Web DDoS attacks up over 500 percent
The total number of web DDoS attacks surged 550 percent last year compared to 2023, according to the latest report from Radware.
The average duration of network DDoS attacks increased 37 percent over 2023, with North America facing 66 percent of web application and API attacks.
Hacktivist activity drives a rise in DDoS attacks
The first half of this year has seen a 43 percent increase in the number of application-layer attacks and a 30 percent increase in volumetric attacks, especially in Europe and the Middle East, according to the latest threat report from NETSCOUT.
The attacks involve a range of threat actors, including hacktivists, targeting critical infrastructure in the banking and financial services, government and utilities sectors.
95 percent of website bot attacks go undetected
More than 65 percent of websites are unprotected against simple bot attacks and 95 percent of advanced bot attacks go undetected on websites.
A new report from DataDome reveals that eCommerce and luxury goods sites are at greatest risk. Just five percent of luxury brand websites and 10 percent of eCommerce websites are fully protected against bad bots.
DDoS attack activity soars in first half of 2024
In the first half of 2024, web DDoS attacks surged globally 265 percent compared to the second half of 2023, according to the latest threat analysis report from Radware.
Organizations in EMEA were the primary target of web DDoS attacks between January and June of 2024, being subject to more than 90 percent of the attacks.
The danger facing critical infrastructure from DDoS attacks targeting telecoms networks
Denied Distribution of Service (DDoS) attacks are an established and now-typical part of the cybersecurity landscape. But, since their first arrival on the scene over 25 years ago, the core of the average DDoS attack hasn’t really changed. Sure, there have been advancements in technology but they still serve the same purpose as they did during that very first attack on a commercial internet provider -- bringing their victims offline.
The way in which an attack can do this using DDoS has changed over time, with a movement towards more targeted attacks, allowing for specific websites or servers to be attacked rather than the entire network having to be taken offline. DDoS attacks have also become wildly more popular and commonplace as they’ve become easier and more accessible to carry out. They’ve even become a market of their own, with some threat actors even offering them as a service online.
DDoS cyber-attack targeting Internet Archive and the Wayback Machine
The DDoS cyber-attack currently targeting the Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine has entered its third day, causing intermittent disruptions in service. The nonprofit research library is best known for housing millions of historical documents, preserved websites, and media content.
The ongoing intrusion has involved the launch of tens of thousands of fake information requests per second, though the source of the attack remains unknown.
Dissecting the latest DNS-based attack trends -- What we're seeing and how to get ahead
As the foundational component of the internet, DNS has been around for over 40 years and yet, it remains a major vector for bad actors even today. You might think that DNS wouldn’t be such a big security concern today given how much time we’ve had to come up with a better way to secure it, but lo and behold, it’s still at least partially responsible for a large percentage of cyber-attacks.
DNS-based attacks can include everything from malware to phishing, to domain theft and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, among others. And these can have major consequences for the organizations hit by them. While there are countless examples, some of the most recent and well-publicized ones have included takedowns of ChatGPT and Google Cloud, though almost every bit of modern malware leverages DNS in some way.
DDoS attacks shift from mobile to computers
Computers and servers made up 92 percent of DDoS targets in 2013, compared to just eight percent for mobile devices. The split the previous year was 32 percent computers and 68 percent mobile. At the same time the DDoS attack count decreased 55 percent in 2023, but the average attack size grew 233 percent.
The latest DDoS trends report from Nexusguard also finds that shorter attacks lasting 90 minutes increased by 22 percent and made up 81 percent of all DDoS attacks.
Politically motivated DDoS attacks on the rise
This year has already seen several warnings of attacks targeting elections that are happening around the world.
A new report from NETSCOUT has identified a rise in politically motivated DDoS attacks. Peru experienced a 30 percent increase in attacks tied to protests about former Peruvian President Fujimori’s release from prison in December.
DDoS attacks against web apps and APIs surge
Globally, the average number of DDoS attacks per customer grew by 94 percent in 2023, according to a new report from Radware.
"The technological race between good and bad actors has never been more intense," says Pascal Geenens, Radware's director of threat intelligence. "With advancements like Generative AI, inexperienced threat actors are becoming more proficient and skilled attackers more emboldened. In 2024, look for attack numbers to climb and attack patterns, like the shift in Web DDoS attacks, to continue to evolve."
Busting three common DDoS myths
DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) protection occupies a peculiar spot in cybersecurity. While "newer" threats like AI-enabled cybercrime and the ongoing ransomware spree take up many airwaves, DDoS is relatively stable. For many, it's a known quantity. But this is where the problem lies. DDoS has been around for so long, and companies have been mitigating against it for all this time that a knowledge gap is slowly creeping in.
Because things change, bad habits get picked up, or common misconceptions go unchallenged and evolve into full-blown myths. Companies might be ‘protecting’ themselves under false pretenses, so it pays to revisit what you know, explore what’s changed and rebuild your knowledge of the threat landscape semi-regularly. So, with that in mind, let's explore three common myths we regularly encounter in the DDoS space.
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