The Nexusguard DDoS Trend Report for 2024 reveals a significant increase in the size of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks throughout 2023, with an average escalation of 233.33% compared to the previous year. Despite a notable 54.74% reduction in the total number of attacks, this data indicates a shift towards more potent and disruptive cyber assaults.
The largest recorded attack peaked at an unprecedented 700 Gbps, marking a 93.42% increase from the previous year. Industries ranging from gaming to financial services were significantly impacted, with hacktivism emerging as a key driver behind these attacks, often targeting government and vital services.
UDP-based attacks remained the most common type, despite a 58.29% year-on-year decrease, due to their simplicity and effectiveness in overwhelming networks with packet floods. The report also highlighted the increasing use of multi-vector attack combinations, such as HTTP Flood and HTTPS Flood, DNS Amplification and UDP Fragmentation, and TCP ACK and UDP Attack. These multi-vector strategies make attacks harder to defend against, indicating the evolving sophistication of cybercriminal tactics.
Countries like Pakistan, Brazil, Libya, and the United States were particularly targeted by reflected DDoS attacks in 2023. The report underscores the necessity for enhanced preparedness against sophisticated DDoS attacks, urging organizations to invest in real-time threat intelligence, robust infrastructure resilience, and collaborative defense mechanisms. Public awareness and education, along with comprehensive policy and regulatory frameworks, are critical in combating the evolving threat landscape.
