The number of DDS attacks in Q4 2018 makes up only 56% of attacks detected in Q4 2019.
In addition, 28% of attacks happened over the weekend.
These are two of the findings from the Kaspersky Q4 2019 DDoS attacks report, which examines attacks blocked by Kaspersky DDOS Protection.
In Q4 2019, there were several large-scale DDOS attacks, including ones against financial institutions in South Africa. Attacks also targeted the UK’s Labour Party in an attempt to disrupt its digital systems, as well as against Minecraft servers set up in the Vatican.
According to Kaspersky, this shows that DDOS remains a popular attack method among bad actors looking for financial gain or those who are driven by ideological motives.
“Organisations should be prepared for such attacks and understand how they evolve,” the company said.
There was also a 27% rise in so-called smart DDOS attacks, focusing on the application layer and carried out by skilled malefactors, compared to Q3 2019.This increase was predictable, as November to December is traditionally a popular time for online business and retail activity. However, Kaspersky experts did not identify a spike on Black Friday or Christmas holiday sales days.
Alexey Kiselev, business development manager on the Kaspersky DDOS Protection team, says despite the significant growth in general, the season turned out to be quieter than expected, and the company assumes it didn’t see a storm of attacks on certain days because businesses expand their activity to engage with customers for the entirety of the holiday period.
“However, attackers can still find a way to spoil your leisure time, as cyber crime is not an ordinary nine-to-five job, so it is important to ensure that your DDoS prevention solution can automatically protect your web assets,” comments.
To help organisations protect themselves from DDoS attacks on weekends and during popular times of year, Kaspersky recommends conducting stress tests and Web application audits with internal employees or with the help of outsourced specialists, to identify the weakest points in company infrastructure.
In addition, the company advises businesses to assign specialists responsible for maintaining Web resources operations, and ensuring they know how to act in case of DDOS attacks and are ready to respond outside of their scheduled working hours.
Next, it advises to verify third-party agreements and contact information. This includes arrangements with an internet service provider, so that you can quickly reach it in case of an attack.
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