A new network security report on trends in dedicated denial of service (DDoS) attacks has found that the telecommunications industry is seeing the fastest year-over-year rate of growth for DDoS attacks.
The financial industry still accounted for the highest percentage of attacks, at nearly 24% compared to telecom’s 12.3%, according to Imperva—which is part of Thales after being acquired late last year, the ninth of Thales’ digital security acquisitions in recent years aimed at boosting its cybersecurity position. But telecom saw a 548% year-over-year increase in application layer attacks during the first half of this year, compared to the first half of 2023, Imperva said.
Overall, Imperva said that the number of DDoS attacks were up by 215% from the first half of last year.
Other industries which saw notable increases from the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2024 included healthcare, with a 236% increase; and gaming, with a 208% increase. Real-life sporting events are also not immune, according to the report, with DDoS attacks on industries that are associated with major sporting events up 89%.
The motivation behind the attacks vary, however. While Imperva said that the increase in DDoS targets on gaming reflects its high-value targets and vulnerability to the gaming experience and financial transactions being disrupted by DDoS attacks, sporting events tend to be high-profile events where cybercriminals can gain publicity and notoriety if they manage to disrupt operations. In other cases, state actors or activists choose targets to make political statements—and understanding the motivation behind such attacks can help companies develop more effective defense strategies. Meanwhile, the increasing availability of automation in cyberattacks has made it easier for a broader range of bad actors to use easily available tools for large-scale attacks.
In terms of telecom, the report said that the fast-increasing rate of DDoS attacks reflects telcos’ “crucial role in maintaining internet connectivity and the high stakes in disrupting their services.”
Other key takeaways from the report include:
-The United States is the primary target for DDoS attacks, accounting for nearly half of the attacks in the first half of the year.
-The largest DDoS attack in the first half was an application layer DDoS attack which occurred in February that reached a volume of 4.7 million Requests per Second (RPS).