DDoS attacks more common as part of broader attack

The trend we’ve seen since Q4 2021, a decline in DDoS attacks, continued through the second quarter of 2022. Good news, you might say. Not exactly, in fact many more DDoS attacks lasting longer than 4 hours have been measured. As in previous years, NaWas/NBIP shares the DDoS infographic containing the most important trends and figures in the field of DDoS attacks below.

Based on the most recent figures, we see that the duration of DDoS attacks is increasing. At the beginning of 2022, there were still 6 attacks recorded by NaWas that lasted longer than 4 hours. In the past quarter, 18 attacks with the same duration were recorded. This tripling is a development that we are monitoring closely.

Decrease in total number of DDoS attacks

Compared to Q1 2022 (666), we see a decrease in the number of DDoS attacks. In last quarter we registered 514 DDoS attacks. Last year we also saw a decrease in the last quarter and then an increase again. Unfortunately, based on previous developments, we see that the number of attacks will eventually increase again. The ‘vacation period’ from June to August is usually a period in which there are fewer DDoS attacks.

DDoS attacks to mask other attacks

Over the quarter as a whole, there have been no new methods or notable attacks. However, we do see a slight increase in the easy to deploy ‘UDP flood’. In addition, DDoS is being used more frequently as a means of making Extortion Ransomware attacks more effective for blackmailing companies. The fact is that most attacks involve financial gain. But DDoS attacks are also used to mask other attacks, for example on applications and databases in the systems. In summary, DDoS attacks are more difficult, more powerful, more frequent and increasingly part of a wider deployed attack.

Download the latest DDoS infographic with figures from Q2 2022 here: