Worldwide distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks more than doubled in 2022, Nexusguard, a managed DDoS protector service provider, said in a new report.
In 2022, the total number of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks worldwide increased by 115% over the amount seen in 2021, according to Nexusguard’s newly released data in its 2022 DDoS Statistical Report.
At the same time, the maximum size of 361.9 gigabits per second (Gbps) represented a 48% decrease over those measured in 2021. Average attack size also slid by roughly 22%.
The majority of DDoS threats (86%) in 2022 were single-vector attacks, which is almost identical to the level of the prior year. UDP (user datagram protocol)-based and TCP (transmission control protocol)-based attacks were the most popular attacks by type, accounting for 73% and 23.0% respectively.
Applications a Favored Attack Vector
Cyberattackers continue to alter their threat vectors by targeting the application platforms, online databases, and cloud-based storage systems within internet service providers (ISPs), Nexusguard said. This resulted in a significantly greater impact globally as organizations continue to move more of their workloads to the cloud, the company said.
Other key findings include:
- The top three DDoS attack vectors were NTP (network time protocol) amplification and UDP attacks.
- UDP-based attacks increased 121.3% year-over-year (YoY). TCP based and other attacks also grew significantly.
- Amplification attacks grew by 414.6% YoY.
- Application attacks saw enormous growth, increasing by 718.1% YoY.
Commenting on data, Juniman Kasman, chief technology officer of Nexusguard, said:
“Although DDoS attack size dropped in 2022, we saw a significant jump in the overall number of attacks, making the need for greater awareness and vigilance more essential today. Cyberattackers also continue to target critical infrastructure within ASN-level Communications Service Providers (CSPs), especially ISPs, which results in an incredibly far-reaching effect as the organizations relying on those providers are also negatively impacted.”
Nexusguard Launches DDoS Scrubbing Center
Nexusguard also said it will launch a new DDoS scrubbing center in São Paulo, Brazil in July, 2023. The new center will provide comprehensive protection for local network operators and enterprises against DDoS attacks, mitigating the growing threat of cyberattacks in the region.
The scrubbing center will also power Nexusguard Bastions, a managed DDoS protection service designed for businesses dealing with the impacts triggered by cyberattacks or seeking to add advanced cybersecurity capabilities to their product portfolio.
