Q1 2020 Threat Report

Quarterly Focus

In March and April, we recorded the most unusual increase in DDoS attacks ever. Compared with 2019 Q1, YoY, the number of attacks increased by 278.17%, and QoQ increased by 542.46%. Q1 is generally considered the “off season” for DDoS attacks and hence it is rather unusual to observe such behaviour during this period. While it is a surprising observation, we believe that the occurrence of such spikes could be related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

DDoS attacks have increased significantly amid the COVID-19 pandemic

On March 15, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was hit by DDoS attacks which severely impacted its online services. On April 30, the European Union’s High Representative, Josep Borrell, singled out attacks on “critical infrastructures that are essential to managing this crisis” as particularly egregious in a press release. He also noted the proliferation of “malware distribution campaigns, scanning activities and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks” since the outbreak. Virtual private network (VPN) provider Atlas also recorded more than 175,000 DDoS attacks targeted at the US within a month.

Whatever the motives behind DDoS attacks, DDoS attacks impact everyone

DDoS Attacks have already become a global risk around the world. The motives behind attacks can be categorized into three types. The first type is politically motivated, while the second type is commonly instigated as a form of retaliatory attack by dismissed employees or someone dissatisfied with society during times of economic recession. The last type is always active, namely associated with online crime and competition between rival industries.

ISPs have become the major focal point of attack

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on our everyday lives in many ways. Due to social distancing measures and in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, working from home has become the new norm and home internet connectivity has never been more important. The heavy use and reliance of online services has given rise to a trend of attacks which have been employed to overwhelm ISPs.

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