In the first half of 2023, cybercriminals launched almost 8 million DDoS attacks. Germany is one of the hardest hit.
Cybercriminals increased their activities in the first half of 2023. According to NETSCOUT's latest Threat Intelligence Report, threat actors launched approximately 7,9 million distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks worldwide, compared to just over 6 million of these attacks in the first half of 2022. This represents a 31 percent increase in Compared to the previous year and around 44.000 DDoS attacks per day.
This increase in attack frequency was primarily seen in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), where the region recorded more than 2,4 million DDoS attacks - a 15 percent increase compared to the second half of 2022.
Other findings from the NETSCOUT report on the EMEA region include:
- Germany was one of the five countries with the most attacks in the region, along with France, Italy, Kenya and Saudi Arabia.
- The largest attack in terms of bandwidth took place in Germany in March 2023.
- The EMEA region is the most affected region in the world by DDoS attacks, due in large part to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war and geopolitical implications. Cybercriminals like Killnet have continued their attacks on pro-Ukrainian governments and organizations, targeting Finland and Sweden in their efforts to join NATO.
- The satellite communications industry was particularly affected by DDoS attacks - attacks increased by almost 61.821 percent to 90 in EMEA.
Richard Hummel, Threat Intelligence Lead at NETSCOUT, discusses the report's findings and assesses what organizations in EMEA need to do to protect themselves from DDoS attacks:
“In the first half of 2023, hacktivists flooded EMEA with DDoS attacks. Attack activity in the region has increased significantly, with cybercriminals launching the largest and fastest attacks on countries in the EMEA region during this period.
How companies protect themselves against DDoS attacks:
Companies in this region have already demonstrated their ability to mitigate DDoS attacks - 37 percent of HTTP/S application layer attacks were blocked. In contrast, APAC was only able to stop 1 percent of HTTP/S attacks.
As the most attacked region in the world, it is essential for all companies in the EMEA region to implement a powerful and effective cyber security strategy that can mitigate DDoS attacks. This includes placing adaptive DDoS defense systems at every network perimeter to block attacks.
It is also important for companies to regularly test their online infrastructure. This ensures that any customizations made to applications or servers are integrated into the broader DDoS defense system to protect applications and services, as well as critical online infrastructure components. Educating employees about the basics of good cyber hygiene further strengthens companies when it comes to defending themselves against new threats. As the threat of DDoS attacks continues to grow, implementing these measures will help ensure that organizations in EMEA and the rest of the world are adequately protected from DDoS attacks.”
Directly to the report on 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.
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