Intelligent CIO North America Issue 08 | Page 68

AS A RESULT , WE SEE THAT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DDOS ATTACKS IN Q4 REMAINED QUITE STABLE . AND WE CAN PREDICT THAT THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE IN 2021 .
INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Enterprise Security

Kaspersky reveals drop in DDoS attacks but cryptomining is on the rise

Kaspersky reveals several schools in Massachusetts and Laurentian University in Canada have experienced DDoS attacks .

Kaspersky has revealed the number of DDoS attacks detected by Kaspersky DDoS Prevention in Q4 2020 increased slightly in comparison to the same period of 2019 .

However , it is 31 % less compared to Q3 2020 . Unfortunately , this drop can be connected to the growing interest in cryptocurrency mining . As people began to spend more time online in 2020 , it resulted in a boom of DDoS attacks . And in the fourth quarter , attacks on educational institutions continued with several schools in Massachusetts and Laurentian University in Canada experiencing such incidents . However , in Q4 2020 there were only 10 % more attacks than in Q4 2019 . And compared to Q3 2020 , the number of attacks in Q4
2020 fell by 31 %, while Q3 2020 also saw a drop compared to Q2 .
Experts suggest that this can be caused by a surge in cryptocurrency costs . As a result , cybercriminals may have had to ‘ re-profile ’ some botnets so that C & C servers , that are typically used in DDoS attacks , could repurpose infected devices and use their computing power to mine cryptocurrencies instead . This is further proved by KSN statistics . Throughout 2019 , as well as in the beginning of 2020 , the number of cryptominers was dropping . However , from August 2020 the trend changed , with the amount of this form of malware increasing slightly and reaching a plateau in Q4 .
Alexey Kiselev , Business Development Manager on the Kaspersky DDoS Protection team , said : “ The DDoS attack market is currently affected by two opposite trends . On the one hand , people still highly rely on stable work of online resources , which can make DDoS attacks a common choice for malefactors . However , with a spike in cryptocurrency prices , it may be more profitable for them to infect some devices with miners .
“ As a result , we see that the total number of DDoS attacks in Q4 remained quite stable . And we can predict that this trend will continue in 2021 .” To stay protected against DDoS attacks , Kaspersky experts offer the following recommendations :
• Maintain web resource operations by assigning specialists who understand how to respond to DDoS attacks .
• Validate third-party agreements and contact information , including those made with Internet Service Providers . This helps teams quickly access agreements in case of an attack .
• Implement professional solutions to safeguard your organization against DDoS attacks . For example , Kaspersky DDoS Protection combines Kaspersky ’ s extensive expertise in combating cyberthreats and the company ’ s unique in-house developments . p

AS A RESULT , WE SEE THAT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DDOS ATTACKS IN Q4 REMAINED QUITE STABLE . AND WE CAN PREDICT THAT THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE IN 2021 .

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