Global DDoS Attack Landscape: What Insights Can We Glean from Q1 2024?
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have surged in frequency and sophistication, presenting significant threats to numerous sectors, especially the financial industry. In Q1 2024, there was a staggering 50% year-over-year increase in DDoS attacks and an 18% rise from the previous quarter. This trend highlights these attacks' escalating danger to businesses and organizations worldwide.
DDoS attacks function by overwhelming network resources with excessive traffic, rendering them unable to operate correctly. Typical targets include online shopping sites, casinos, and businesses reliant on web-based services. Financial institutions are particularly vulnerable due to the high stakes involved.
How Are DDoS Attacks Evolving?
Recent patterns indicate the involvement of powerful botnets, such as those utilizing Mirai-variant malware, which has orchestrated some of the most significant attacks. In late 2023, an attack peaked at 350 million packets per second — a rate once considered record-breaking but now more common. The rapid reset attacks of the previous year, exploiting HTTP/2, highlight the increasing sophistication and scale of these cybersecurity threats.
What Were the Key DDoS Attack Trends in Q1 2024?
According to DDoS-Guard, Q1 2024 experienced a 29% increase in DDoS attacks compared to the same period in 2023. January 2024 was the busiest month for Layer 7 (L7) attacks, while a significant rise in Layer 3–4 (L3/4) attacks was observed in March, surpassing the combined totals of January and February.
The power and scale of DDoS attacks are growing. What was once considered top-level attacks in previous years are now standard. This increase in attack volume is primarily driven by compromised Internet of Things (IoT) devices. For example, an early 2024 attack reached a peak of 350 million packets per second (PPS), a volume that was record-breaking in 2021 but is now commonplace.
How Are Botnets Impacting DDoS Attacks?
The Qrator Q1 2024 DDoS Attacks Statistics and Overview report highlights significant growth in botnet size. The largest recorded botnet involved 51,400 devices, up from 16,000 in the previous quarter. However, this figure is still lower than that of the same period in 2023, when a botnet contained 131,628 devices.
On February 19th, this extensive network launched a DDoS attack against the online betting industry, affecting entities in nine countries: Indonesia, the United States, Russia, Colombia, China, India, Brazil, the Philippines, and Germany.
What Was the Largest DDoS Attack in Q1 2024?
The most significant recorded DDoS attack in Q1 2024 was a Mirai-variant botnet assault, reaching an unprecedented two terabits per second. This massive attack targeted an Asian hosting provider, showcasing modern botnets' increasing scale and capability. Notably, this variant contributes to broader attack statistics: it launches four out of every 100 HTTP DDoS attacks and two out of every 100 L3/4 DDoS attacks.
Recently, attackers exploited Ivanti vulnerabilities, CVE-2023–46805 and CVE-2024–21887, manipulating crafted requests to execute malicious scripts and recruit compromised systems into Mirai’s botnet for further nefarious activities like DDoS attacks.
What Are the Top DDoS Attack Vectors in Q1 2024?
Cloudflare’s DDoS Threat Report for Q1 2024 reveals that HTTP DDoS attacks have become the most dominant attack vector, constituting 37% of all DDoS attacks monitored during this period. This surge indicates a strategic shift among cyber attackers, who now prefer exploiting the application layer by inundating web services with HTTP requests to disrupt server operations.
The increasing reliance on HTTP DDoS attacks highlights their effectiveness in simulating legitimate web traffic, making it difficult for defenses to filter out malicious activities without impacting regular user access. Attackers have optimized their tactics to employ both GET and POST request floods, which strain server resources and render websites slow or unreachable for legitimate users.
The report also underscores a worrying trend: these attacks are growing in frequency and sophistication.
Adversaries are continually adapting their methods to bypass conventional security measures. This trend necessitates advancements in web application firewalls and real-time traffic analysis to effectively mitigate the impact of these high-volume and disguised traffic attacks.
Where Are DDoS Attacks Geographically Concentrated?
An analysis of the geographical distribution of DDoS attacks in Q1 2024 showcased distinctive trends and sources. The United States was the predominant contributor, generating 20% of all HTTP DDoS attack traffic. Other significant contributors, such as China, Germany, Indonesia, and Brazil, each contributed substantially to the global threat landscape.
At the network layer, Cloudflare’s data centers in the US were the primary recipients of over 40% of L3/4 DDoS attack traffic, indicating a high concentration of network-based threats in the region. Following the US, Germany, Brazil, Singapore, and Russia also reported significant traffic, highlighting their roles as primary targets or transit hubs for DDoS attacks.
How Can You Leverage SOCRadar’s DoS Resilience?
To effectively defend against DDoS attacks, it is crucial to understand their operational mechanisms and the tactics commonly used by attackers. Utilize the free SOCRadar Labs-DoS Resilience tool to assess the robustness of your domain or subnet against DoS attacks. This service helps identify both strengths and vulnerabilities in your defenses. Based on the insights gained from the DoS Resiliency analysis, you can further enhance your security posture using the SOCRadar Attack Surface Management module, tailored to your needs.
What Does the Future Hold for DDoS Attacks?
The DDoS Threat Report from Q1 2024 paints a concerning picture of the current state of cyber threats. With HTTP-based attacks taking the forefront and botnets growing in size and sophistication, it is clear that the challenge is not only persistent but also evolving.
Leveraging tools like SOCRadar’s DoS Resilience can provide crucial insights into vulnerabilities, helping organizations fortify their defenses against these disruptive attacks. Exploring additional resources and staying informed through expert analyses is essential for a deeper understanding of mitigation strategies and the latest DDoS trends.
Originally published on SOCRadar’s blog on June 14, 2024:
https://socradar.io/global-ddos-attack-landscape-insights-from-q1-2024/
