Sharp Growth on the threat of Ransom DDoS attacks

There's been a significant rise in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks accompanied by threats of extortion, with criminals demanding ransom payments in exchange for calling off an attack. Cybercriminals have been emboldened to attack as they find that more people and organizations go online without the necessary precautions and cyber defenses.

DDoS attacks hit a record high in Q4 2021. Compared to Q3 2021, the total number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in Q4 shows an increase of 52%. This is 4.5 times more than the same time last year. The DDoS threat landscape is constantly changing, reflecting the current economic and social trends.

DDoS attacks pose problems for organisations when attackers flood servers and online infrastructure with requests for access, slowing down services or taking them fully offline, thus preventing legitimate users from accessing services at all – and cutting off business for the affected organisation. Cyber extortion comes in different forms.

However, they are all bound by the common goal of threatening an individual or organization with disruption, inconvenience, or reputational damage unless a ransom is paid. From ransomware to the use of online scandal videos to extort celebrities or well-known personalities, the threat of cyber extortion should not be downplayed. It is important to be ready for them with the knowledge and prevention tools.

According to Cloudflare, just over one in five DDoS attacks was accompanied by a ransom note from the attacker during 2021. In December, a prime time for online retailers in the run up to Christmas, one in three of the organisations surveyed said they received a ransom letter relating to a DDoS attack. Targets on the receiving end of DDoS attacks can commonly include online retailers, online local governments, cloud-based business applications, streaming services and online games.

Secondly, these cyber attacks are used for extortion. Instead of attacking a business or organization with the ultimate goal of disrupting their operations or keeping them offline, the perpetrators send a ransom demand for them to stop. The attackers usually seek payment in cryptocurrency to make the transaction unlikely to be trackable. Organizations tend to be forced to pay the ransom to avoid costly business disruptions and reputational damage.

Ransomware become a major problem and as per the report, the ransom payments are ranging from $25,000 to over $100,000 per attack. These alarming numbers are expected to increase further in the years ahead, as it appears that prevention solutions have been largely ineffective and victims continue to pay the ransom demands.

Experts says, it’s important to know your traffic. It’s a good option to use network and application monitoring tools to identify traffic trends and tendencies. By understanding your company's typical traffic patterns and characteristics, you can establish a baseline to more easily identify unusual activity that is symptomatic of a DDoS attack.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA