The environmental services industry finds itself at the forefront of a digital battleground as cybersecurity firm Cloudflare unveils a staggering 61,839% surge in HTTP-based distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks throughout 2023. This alarming revelation, detailed in Cloudflare’s DDoS threat report for 2023 Q4, marks a disturbing trend, particularly during the period of COP 28. The report underscores the growing vulnerability at the intersection of environmental concerns and cybersecurity, emphasizing the urgent need for reinforced digital defenses in this ever-evolving threat landscape.
While the environmental services sector becomes a new target for cyber attackers, the cryptocurrency industry continues to bear the brunt of HTTP DDoS attacks, representing more than 4% of all such attacks in the quarter. Gaming, gambling, and telecommunications emerge as the second and third most targeted industries, revealing the expansive reach of cyber threats across sectors. Disturbingly, the United States and China persist as the main sources of HTTP DDoS attack traffic globally, accounting for over a quarter of all such attacks. This persistent trend signals a critical need for organizations worldwide to fortify their cybersecurity measures in response to the evolving tactics of cyber adversaries.
As the digital onslaught intensifies, the report also sheds light on a parallel surge in DDoS attacks targeting Palestinian websites, growing by a staggering 1,126% quarter-over-quarter. Additionally, Taiwan experiences a significant uptick of 3,370% in DDoS attack traffic amid presidential elections and rising tensions with China. Cloudflare’s findings align with those of Akamai, indicating that DDoS attacks have become more frequent, longer in duration, highly sophisticated with multiple vectors, and increasingly focused on horizontal targets, attacking multiple IP destinations simultaneously. The report concludes with a crucial note on the rising threat posed by unsecured API endpoints, urging organizations to address potential vulnerabilities and fortify their defenses against these evolving cyber challenges.
