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NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Shows Dramatic Increase in Multivector DDoS Attacks in First-Half 2020
4.8 million attacks, combined with a 126% rise in 15-plus vector attacks and a 31% increase in throughput, increases mitigation difficulty WESTFORD,
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[{"type":"text","content":"\n4.8 million attacks, combined with a 126% rise in 15-plus vector attacks and a 31% increase in throughput, increases mitigation difficulty\n\n WESTFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nNETSCOUT SYSTEMS, INC., (NASDAQ: NTCT), today announced the findings of its 1H 2020 Threat Intelligence Report, which reinforces the dramatic impact cybercriminals have had during the COVID-19 pandemic. Attackers focused on COVID-era lifelines such as healthcare, e-commerce, and educational services with complex, high-throughput attacks designed to overwhelm and quickly take them down.\n\n“The first half of 2020 witnessed a radical change in DDoS attack methodology to shorter, faster, harder-hitting complex multi-vector attacks that we expect to continue,” stated Richard Hummel, threat intelligence lead, NETSCOUT. “Adversaries increased attacks against online platforms and services crucial in an increasingly digital world, such as e-commerce, education, financial services, and healthcare. No matter the target, adversary, or tactic used, it remains imperative that defenders and security professionals remain vigilant in these challenging days to protect the critical infrastructure that connects and enables the modern world.”\n\nKey findings from the NETSCOUT 1H 2020 Threat Intelligence Report include:\n\n\nCybercriminals launched record-breaking attacks at online platforms and services during the pandemic – More than 929,000 DDoS attacks occurred in May, representing the single largest number of attacks ever seen in a month. 4.83 million DDoS attacks occurred in the first half of 2020, a 15% increase. However, DDoS attack frequency jumped 25% during peak pandemic lockdown months (March through June).\n\n\n\nBad actors focused on shorter, more complex attacks – Super-sized 15-plus vector attacks increased 2,851% since 2017, while the average attack duration dropped 51% from the same period last year. Moreover, single-vector attacks fell 43% while attack throughput increased 31%, topping out at 407 Mpps. The increase in attack complexity and speed, coupled with the decrease in duration, gives security teams less time to defend their organizations from increasingly sophisticated attacks.\n\n\n\nOrganizations and individuals bear the cost of cyber attacks – To determine the impact that DDoS attacks have on global Internet traffic, the NETSCOUT ATLAS Securit...