According to the latest NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report, the number of direct path attacks increased by 2021 percent between the second half of 2022 and the first half of 11. Botnets like Mirai have given the whole thing a boost.
The continued shift to direct path attacks from botnets has led to more application layer attacks, a trend that has been increasing since early last year. This growth is largely due to innovations in the botnet landscape that have been established since the 1980s. As technology has advanced, threat actors have also evolved, allowing botnets to increase in both size and capabilities.
Latest insights into botnet activity
“Over the past year, NETSCOUT has seen an increase in attackers using DDoS-for-hire services as part of a triple threat. In these attacks, attackers exfiltrate data and use ransomware to lock the target out of their own data. They then launch DDoS attacks in hopes of receiving cryptocurrency payouts. As a result, they cause major damage to networks and reputation. These attacks are becoming more common as botnets are used to exploit direct attack vectors.
Botnet Mirai used millions of IoT devices
Botnets like Mirai have also helped bring botnets into the limelight. Mirai did the damage by taking advantage of IoT devices, which numbered about 2016 billion possible devices at the time of Mirai's initial discovery in 6,3. Mirai has continued to evolve since the source code was released. The result is that it now targets not only IoT devices (estimated at 14 billion today), but also vulnerabilities in a wide variety of other devices, including cable modems, routers, and enterprise servers.
Undoubtedly, botnets' capabilities are expanding every year, and their targets now range from gamers to geopolitical enemies. All of these factors make it imperative for organizations to protect themselves against these attacks, otherwise they risk massive disruptions to their services.” says Christian Syrbe, Chief Solution Architect at NETSCOUT.
More at Netscout.com
About NETSCOUT NETSCOUT SYSTEMS, INC. helps secure digital business services against security, availability and service disruptions. Our market and technology leadership is based on the combination of our patented smart data technology with intelligent analytics. We provide the comprehensive, real-time insight that customers need to accelerate and secure their digital transformation. Our advanced Omnis® cybersecurity platform for threat detection and mitigation offers comprehensive network visibility, threat detection, contextual investigations and automated mitigation at the network edge.