Kaspersky Lab: DDoS attacks increased by 24% in Q3 2021 
In Q3 2021, total DDoS attacks grew by almost a quarter (24 percent) over the same period last year. This was reported by Kaspersky Lab specialists, who also told the Russians about the main ways to protect themselves from destructive cyber attacks.
The company notes that the number of advanced attacks, which are most often directed against a particular company, has also increased (by 31 percent). One of the August days completely broke the record of the last few years for the number of attacks per day – 8,825 cyber attacks.
Speaking about the main goals of hackers, analysts highlight organizations fighting the pandemic, government agencies, as well as game developers and media resources, that cover cybersecurity issues. The most affected countries are the United States and China, including Hong Kong. Kaspersky Lab noticed that some of the largest DDoS attacks were organized using the powerful Mēris botnet.
Speaking of the more unusual attacks, analysts pointed to a series of politically charged attacks that took place in Europe and Asia. Another case concerns Russia: here in August, the target of a DDoS attack that lasted for several days was the personal account of applicants of one of the state universities. The attack was not stopped even after the educational institution began to use various methods of protection, which, according to experts, is quite risky for the attackers, since in this case the likelihood of finding the botnet nodes increases.
“For the past two years, crypto mining and DDoS attack teams have been competing for resources as many botnets have been used for both purposes. Previously, we saw a decline in the number of DDoS attacks associated with the explosive growth of the cryptocurrency rate, and now we are fixing the reallocation of resources. DDoS is profitable, and we think that the number of such incidents will continue to increase in the fourth quarter, because traditionally it happens by the end of the year, ”commented Alexander Gutnikov, cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky Lab, on the research data.
В the companies recalled the measures that can help to successfully resist DDoS attacks, as well as fight their consequences. In particular, site support should be entrusted to highly qualified specialists who have experience working with such incidents. In addition, it is recommended that you carefully check your supplier agreements and contact information. This will allow you to quickly receive the necessary information in the event of an attack. Other important actions include the use of specialized corporate solutions to protect against DDoS, as well as the development of a plan for protecting and restoring critical services.
Earlier, StormWall analysts recorded a serious surge in hacker attacks on online services of Russian educational institutions. Then the experts did not rule out that the students themselves may be behind them, who thus tried to get rid of the need to do their homework.