A significant increase in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks has been reported by Zayo, with the telecommunications sector suffering the most. According to the company’s annual DDoS Insights Report, the past year saw a dramatic rise in both the frequency and severity of these cyber assaults. Businesses found themselves paying an average of £4,700 for every minute under attack, culminating in an average total cost of £325,000.
The report highlights a more than fourfold increase in the duration of attacks from the first to the fourth quarter of the year. Telecommunications providers were the prime targets, enduring about 40% of the total attack volume, which equated to nearly 13,000 incidents in just the latter half of the year. Following the telecoms, sectors like retail, healthcare, government, and education also faced significant threats.
The first six months of 2023 alone saw a 200% increase in DDoS attacks compared to the entirety of 2022, with a notable shift from volumetric to multi-vector attacks later in the year. These sophisticated attacks target specific aspects of the digital infrastructure, making them harder to detect and mitigate.
Experts like Anna Claiborne of Zayo emphasize the evolving nature of cybercrime, with artificial intelligence playing a crucial role in both facilitating attacks and defending against them. Despite the grim outlook, advancements in DDoS protection technologies are offering new hope in combating these cyber threats.
Echoing this sentiment, Eric O’Neill of Carbon Black points out the necessity of innovative DDoS protection strategies to counter the increasingly sophisticated methods employed by cybercriminals. The report, which analyzed around 103,000 incidents across North America and Western Europe, underscores the urgent need for enhanced security measures in the face of a growing cybercrime industry.
