Geopolitical Unrest Generates an Onslaught of DDoS Attacks, According to the Latest NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report
Hacktivist Groups Increase Activity Globally While a Rise in DNS Water Torture Contributed to more than 7 Million DDoS Attacks in the Second Half of 2023
Hacktivism Increases Ten-Fold
DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) hacktivism transcended geographic borders during the past year, exemplifying a shift in the global security landscape. Groups like NoName057(016) and Anonymous Sudan, as well as lone hackers and small collectives, are increasingly using DDoS to target those ideologically opposed to them, for example:
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Peru experienced a 30% increase in attacks tied to protests of former Peruvian President Fujimori’s release from prison onDecember 6 . -
Poland experienced a surge in attacks at the end of 2023 associated with a regime change and statements reaffirming Poland’s support ofUkraine in theRussia -Ukraine conflict. -
Anonymous
Sudan attacked X (formerlyTwitter ) to influenceElon Musk regarding Starlink service inSudan , and it attacked Telegram for suspending its main channel.
NoName057(016), Anonymous Sudan, and Killnet have taken credit for DDoS attacks in
Water Torture Attacks Rise
Targeting critical systems at the heart of the Internet's control plane, DNS (Domain Name System) water torture attacks have been on the rise since the end of 2019. DNS query floods designed to overwhelm authoritative DNS servers experienced a massive 553% increase from 1H2020 to 2H2023. Rather than targeting one website or server, adversaries go after entire systems, resulting in even more damage.
Gaming and Gambling Targeted
NETSCOUT findings point to gaming -- and the gambling associated with gaming – as a primary target for DDoS attacks. Threat actors are drawn to the sector’s substantial financial value and the goal of disrupting competitors, especially during online esports tournaments. Historically, 80-90% of all DDoS attacks are related to gaming and gambling. NETSCOUT assessed attacks on enterprises in these sectors, determining that more than 100,000 DDoS attacks were deployed against those in gaming, and over 20,500 were made against those tied to gambling in 2023.
In addition, based on NETSCOUT’s observations of the DDoS threat landscape, approximately 1% of DDoS attacks are suppressed from originating networks.
“Global adversaries have become more sophisticated in the past year attacking websites and overloading servers to lockout customers and inflict digital chaos to influence geopolitical issues,” stated
Multiple decades of experience working with the world’s largest service providers and enterprises give NETSCOUT far-reaching visibility into the global internet to discern the pulse of the digital world. Our capacity to monitor and respond to DDoS attacks is powered by our ATLAS platform, which enables us to analyze an impressive 500 terabits per second (Tbps) of network traffic.
Visit our interactive website for more information on NETSCOUT's DDoS Threat Intelligence Report. For real-time DDoS attack stats, map, and insights, visit NETSCOUT Cyber Threat Horizon.
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