In its Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Threat Intelligence Report findings, Netscout Systems stated there has been an exemplifying shift in the global security landscape where DDoS hacktivism has transcended geographic borders in the past year.
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, Peru saw a 30 per cent increase in attacks. This was tied to the protests of former Peruvian President Fujimori’s release from prison on December 6. Poland saw a surge at the end of 2023, all associated with a regime change and statements reaffirming Poland’s support of Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The social media platform X (previously Twitter), was attacked by Anonymous Sudan to influence Elon Musk regarding Starlink service in Sudan. The same group attacked Telegram for suspending its main channel.
NoName057(016), Anonymous Sudan, and Killnet have taken credit for DDoS attacks in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, and Palestine, targeting communications infrastructure, hospitals, and banks.
These attacks were primarily targeted by groups towards geographies that had ideological differences.
The report states there were seven million DDoS attacks in the second half of 2023, accounting for close to a 15 per cent increase in the first half. There has been a rise in DNS water torture attacks.
The report dissects trends and attack methodologies adversaries use against service providers, end-users, and enterprises. The report collects analysis data on DDoS attacks from 214 countries and territories, 456 vertical industries, and more than 13,000 Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs).
Daily attacks from hacktivists increased more than ten-fold between the first and second halves of 2023. NoName057(016) topped the list of DDoS adversaries in 2023, targeting 780 websites across 35 countries.
