Cyber attacks reach record high in 2021

News November 18, 2021 , by IRIA 1 Comment

The number of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks reached record heights in the third quarter of 2021, a study reveals.

The total number of DDoS attacks increased by about 24 percent and the number of smart (sophisticated DDoS) attacks increased by 31 percent in the third quarter of 2021, according to a study presented by Atlas VPN using the data provided by Moscow-based cybersecurity and anti-virus provider Kaspersky.

DDoS is a type of cyber attack in which the hacker attempts to make a network resource unavailable for its users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting the services of a host connected to a network.

In the third quarter of 2021, the daily DDoS attacks were recorded especially high since the first quarter of 2015. This year in July, the average daily number of DDoS attacks surpassed 1,000, while cybersecurity company Kaspersky recorded an all-time high of 8,825 attacks on August 18, 2021.

*^{A comparative chart shows the number of DDoS attacks in the third quarter of 2020, the second quarter of 2021, and the third quarter of 2021. (Image Credit: AtlasVPN)}*

According to Edward G., a Cybersecurity Researcher at Atlas VPN, “The jumps are especially noteworthy because DDoS botnet activity is increasing together with the cryptocurrency market. These two areas have been competing for computing power because many botnets can be used for both DDoS as well as crypto mining.”

“DDoS services are in high demand, and a prolonged supply shortfall has likely resulted in a price surge, making it profitable for botnet operators to recommence attacks. As a result, the DDoS market appears to be returning to its late-2019 growth rate,” Edward added.

*^{DDoS targets share by country (Image Credit: AtlasVPN)}*

The study also revealed that the United States was the most targeted country, accounting for 40.80% of the total volume of DDoS attacks globally.

China’s Special Administrative Region Hong Kong received 15.07% of all attacks and mainland China received 7.74% of DDoS attacks, making third on the list. In the third quarter of 2021, Brazil with 4.49%, South Africa with 3.09%, and Canada with 3.07% of cyberattacks made it to the top five list of most targeted regions.