This creates risks for companies and highlights the need in strong cybersecurity solutions
A new report by Qrator Labs, a global leader in network security and DDoS mitigation services, reveals a significant rise in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks in the third quarter of 2024. According to the research, incidents with network and transport layers (L3-L4) surged by 80%, while application layer (L7) attacks increased by 70% compared to the previous quarter.
The analytics attribute this upward trend to seasonal factors. “As we see from previous years, hackers and other malicious actors usually intensify their efforts in autumn and winter following a slowdown over the summer,” CTO at Qrator Labs Andrey Leskin points out.
According to the report, the FinTech sector was the most targeted, accounting for over a third of all incidents. E-commerce followed at 21.13%, while IT and telecom made up 9.58%.
On a more detailed level, the most targeted microsegments included banks (20.15%), online retail (16.71%), and betting shops (9.09%). Notably, incidents involving betting shops slightly decreased compared to the previous quarter. The report indicates that the spike in incidents during the second quarter was largely driven by the UEFA European Championship and the Summer Olympics, which led to increased betting activity among football fans.
The segment, however, continues to be appealing. Notably, the most powerful network-layer attacks in Q3 peaked at 446.57 Gbps, with banks and hosting platforms following at 316.85 Gbps and 313.03 Gbps, respectively. Other sectors, such as the foreign exchange market and payment systems, also faced significant attack volumes, each exceeding 300 Gbps. Qrator Labs noted that attacks exceeding 100 Gbps have remained common, with additional targets including media, online retail, gaming platforms, and digital education.
From a geographical perspective, the United States is one of the leading sources of malicious traffic, accounting for 16.25% of blocked IP addresses. Following the U.S., India contributed 4.76%, while Brazil was responsible for 4.17%. Additionally, Singapore, the UK, China, and several European nations also played a significant role in global DDoS traffic.
The company also analyzed botnet activities, revealing that the largest botnet in Q3 consisted of 86,000 bots—making it the biggest seen this year. By comparison, the largest botnets in previous quarters were significantly smaller, with 51,400 bots in Q1 and 60,500 in Q2. According to the report, this Q3 botnet was discovered on August 18 and targeted an organization within the e-commerce industry, specifically in the Services microsegment. The infected devices were detected across multiple regions, including the USA, the UK, Hong Kong, Germany, the Seychelles, and Brazil.
Leskin believes that the rising number of DDoS attacks serves as a warning for businesses to enhance their cybersecurity measures. “Many companies still underestimate the risks associated with DDoS attacks, which can disrupt operations and result in substantial financial losses. We hope this data will help organizations recognize these threats and strengthen their cybersecurity defenses to mitigate them.
About Qrator Labs
Qrator Labs is a recognized expert in Continuous Network Availability, providing various network security services to ensure a secure internet and continuous DDoS mitigation for businesses worldwide. The company’s unique anycast architecture offers a reliable, geo-distributed, low-latency web app protection platform across North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, boasting a filtering bandwidth capacity of more than 4,000 Gbps and 16 points of presence worldwide.
