Number of dangerous Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks (opens in a new tab)) the number of attacks saw a significant increase in 2022, according to a new report.
Analysis by Qrator Labs showed that the number of attacks, as well as their duration, increased in 2022 compared to previous years – with the minimum numbers for the last ten months being “significantly higher” than the peaks seen in the past.
The duration of DDoS attacks has increased ten-fold in just one year, showing the increasing capabilities of attackers in terms of their equipment.
Analyzing the numbers, Qrator claims that the total number of attacks increased by 73% year-on-year, with cybercriminals focusing mainly on the media (18.5%), but also on banks (10%) and payment systems (13%).
“Banks and payment systems are the most profitable sectors for attackers, and the media is always at the forefront of any kind of social and political conflict in society,” explained Alexander Lyamin, founder of Qrator Labs.
In the first quarter of the year, the majority of attacks took place – 43.2%. The second quarter recorded 23.3% and the third 20.5%. The fourth quarter claimed 13.11% of all DDoS attacks during the year.
As for the duration of attacks, it has increased tenfold in just 12 months. While in the first quarter of 2021, the maximum attack duration was 10 hours, a year later it increased to over 10 days. Moreover, the complexity of these attacks has also increased.
One of the reasons for this significant increase in duration is that cybercriminals no longer have to intensively optimize the duration of botnet use. The researchers found that hackers had plenty of resources (meaning enough powerful bots in a botnet) to make an attack last for weeks.