Warfare and Geopolitics are Fuelling Denial-of-Service Attacks

The analysis is based on 310 verified Denial-of-Service incidents during the reporting period of January 2022 to August 2023.
A large-scale study is also included of publicly reported incidents.
The study focuses on the motivations of attackers, their goals and the socio-political profiles of targets.
Since the beginning of 2022, DoS attacks have turned into a novel and massive threat using new techniques and are fuelled by warfare motivations.
In the last few years, DoS attacks have become easier, cheaper and more aggressive than ever before.
The emergence of new armed conflicts around the world acted as fuel to new waves of DoS attacks where newly formed threat actors pick and choose targets without fear of repercussions.
To provide a better understanding of this type of threat by analysing the motivations and impact of the DoS attacks and raise awareness at the same time by suggesting prevention and remediation recommendations.
The research performed illustrates that most impacted sectors over the reported period covering January 2022 to August 2023 are associated with government services.
These attacks stand as retaliation acts triggered by political decisions.
The report highlights that the last few years, DoS attacks have increased in number especially in the public administration and have become easier and more aggressive than before, largely due to geopolitical reasons.
The current DoS threat landscape is greatly influenced by the emergence of the recent armed conflicts around the world and especially by the Russia-Ukraine War that fuelled new waves of DoS attacks where recently introduced threat actors select targets without the fear of repercussions.
The study also illustrates that while no sector is exempted from DoS attacks, the government infrastructure has become a preferred target by threat actors that often manage to be successful by causing downtime.
The detection, description and analysis of DoS attacks is highly complex and different from other cybersecurity attacks.
In other types of cybersecurity attacks, such as exploitation of services or even supply chain attacks, the attackers leave artefacts behind that the incident responders can find, analyse, share, confirm, verify and ultimately use for some explanation or even attribution.
In the case of DoS attacks artefacts do not exist or are usually fake ones.
This is part of the reasons why official databases of such attacks are difficult to be compiled.
There is a wide range of difficulties when it comes to defining what a DoS attack is.
Denial-of-service attacks are defined for this report as availability attacks in which attackers, partially or totally, obstruct the legitimate use of a target's service by depleting or exploiting the target's assets over a period of time.
A Distributed Denial-of-Service attack DDoS is a subset of DoS attacks.
DoS attacks can be distributed which means that they may originate from thousands of sources from all over the world, usually relying on large-scale botnets or proxies.


This Cyber News was published on www.enisa.europa.eu. Publication date: Wed, 06 Dec 2023 11:43:18 +0000


Cyber News related to Warfare and Geopolitics are Fuelling Denial-of-Service Attacks

Warfare and Geopolitics are Fuelling Denial-of-Service Attacks - The analysis is based on 310 verified Denial-of-Service incidents during the reporting period of January 2022 to August 2023. A large-scale study is also included of publicly reported incidents. The study focuses on the motivations of attackers, ...
11 months ago Enisa.europa.eu
9 Best DDoS Protection Service Providers for 2024 - eSecurity Planet content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More. One of the most powerful defenses an organization can employ against distributed ...
11 months ago Esecurityplanet.com
Cyber Insights 2023: ICS and Operational Technology - The result is more than a dozen features on subjects ranging from AI, quantum encryption, and attack surface management to venture capital, regulations, and criminal gangs. At the same time, ICS/OT is facing an expanding attack surface caused by ...
1 year ago Securityweek.com
Power Outage: 2015 Ukraine Cyber Warfare Attack - On December 23, 2015, Ukraine experienced a cyber warfare attack that caused a power outage across the country for over 1.4 million people. The attack targeted three of the nation's distribution companies that resulted in a complete shutdown of their ...
1 year ago Securityaffairs.com
Check Point Research Report: Shift in Cyber Warfare Tactics - Highlights: Shift in Cyber Warfare Focus: Recent developments in cyber warfare reveal a shift in the activities of Iranian hacktivist proxies. Initially concentrated on Israel, these groups are now extending their cyber operations to include targets ...
11 months ago Blog.checkpoint.com
Russia Set to Ramp Up Attacks on Ukraine's Allies This Winter - Russia is set to ramp up cyber campaigns targeting Ukraine's allies as kinetic warfare slows this winter, according to a report by Cyjax. Researchers noted that Russia's missile production is struggling to keep pace with its tactical, operational and ...
10 months ago Infosecurity-magazine.com
Cyber Insights 2023: The Geopolitical Effect - The result is more than a dozen features on subjects ranging from AI, quantum encryption, and attack surface management to venture capital, regulations, and criminal gangs. The Russia/Ukraine war that started in early 2022 has been mirrored by a ...
1 year ago Securityweek.com
Cyber Warfare 2: The Examined Ukranian Power Outage - The recent cyber attack in Ukraine which led to a power outage illustrates the severity of cyber warfare and the pressing need for better cybersecurity measures. It’s widely believed that the attack was state-sponsored, given the cyber-espionage ...
1 year ago Securityaffairs.com
The year of Mega Ransomware attacks with unprecedented impact on global organizations - A Staggering 1 in every 10 organizations worldwide hit by attempted Ransomware attacks in 2023, surging 33% from previous year, when 1 in every 13 organisations received ransomware attacks Throughout 2023, organizations around the world have each ...
9 months ago Blog.checkpoint.com
Ukraine-Russia Cyber Battles Have Real-World Impact - "The evolution of cyberattacks and malware, particularly those that have an intersection with the use of generative AI, have lowered the barrier for entry for threat actors, leading to more threats and a greater volume of attacks," he says. ...
1 month ago Darkreading.com
Geopolitics to Blame For DoS Surge in Europe, Says ENISA - Europe's cybersecurity agency has warned that geopolitics is fueling a current increase in denial-of-service attacks. ENISA analyzed 310 publicly reported DoS attacks between January 2022 and August 2023, to compile its ENISA Threat Landscape for DoS ...
10 months ago Infosecurity-magazine.com
Cyber attacks anticipated with the start of Israel and Iran war - Cybersecurity Insiders - As the geopolitical landscape continues to evolve, the intersection of conventional warfare and cyber operations will undoubtedly shape future conflicts, highlighting the necessity for nations to remain vigilant in both physical and digital arenas. ...
1 month ago Cybersecurity-insiders.com
The Rise of DDoS Attacks in Q3, 2023: Are You Prepared? - The Indusface AppSec Q3, 2023 Report reveals a staggering 67% surge in DDoS attacks compared to the previous quarter, highlighting a concerning trend with profound impacts on various industries. Over 41% of websites have shown signs of DDoS attacks ...
10 months ago Cybersecuritynews.com
87% of DDoS Attacks Targeted Windows OS Devices in 2023 - Computers and servers became the primary target of attacks, making up 92% of DDoS attempts, compared to only 68% in the previous year. Attacks are also becoming shorter and less frequent, but more powerful. While the overall count in attack frequency ...
5 months ago Darkreading.com
Why every company needs a DDoS response plan - Today's DDoS attacks are not what they were even a few years ago, and we continue to see DDoS attacks that are framed as the largest in history. As a result, large organizations need adaptive, multilayered defense capabilities that can respond just ...
4 months ago Helpnetsecurity.com
CVE-2018-20817 - SV_SteamAuthClient in various Activision Infinity Ward Call of Duty games before 2015-08-11 is missing a size check when reading authBlob data into a buffer, which allows one to execute code on the remote target machine when sending a steam ...
5 years ago
CVE-2019-9978 - The social-warfare plugin before 3.5.3 for WordPress has stored XSS via the wp-admin/admin-post.php?swp_debugload_options swp_url parameter, as exploited in the wild in March 2019. This affects Social Warfare and Social Warfare Pro. ...
3 years ago
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of January 15, 2024 - This vulnerability affected all versions of GitHub Enterprise Server and was fixed in versions 3.11.3, 3.10.5, 3.9.8, and 3.8.13 This vulnerability was reported via the GitHub Bug Bounty program. Successful attacks require human interaction from a ...
9 months ago Cisa.gov
The State of DDoS Attacks: Evolving Tactics and Targets Businesses Must Be Aware Of - Now, these attacks are becoming more dangerous, targeted, and detrimental as they evolve. As DDoS attacks become more sophisticated, adversaries are able to hone in on the most vulnerable targets, ranging from small- and medium-sized businesses to ...
10 months ago Cyberdefensemagazine.com
One Year of ChatGPT: Domains Evolved by Generative AI - ChatGPT has recently completed one year after its official launch. Since it introduced the world to the future, by showing what a human-AI interaction looks like, ChatGPT has eventually transformed the entire tech realm into a cultural phenomenon. ...
11 months ago Cysecurity.news
How to Prepare for DDoS Attacks During Peak Business Times - One common tactic that many security practitioners have witnessed is carrying out distributed denial-of-service attacks during peak business times, when companies are more likely to be short-staffed and caught unawares. While DDoS attacks are a ...
10 months ago Darkreading.com
Social Engineering Attacks: Tactics and Prevention - Social engineering attacks have become a significant concern in today's digital landscape, posing serious risks to the security and sensitive information of individuals and organizations. By comprehending these tactics and implementing preventive ...
9 months ago Securityzap.com
Definition from TechTarget - Cyber attacks aim to disable, disrupt, destroy or control computer systems or to alter, block, delete, manipulate or steal the data held within these systems. They're identified as nation-state attackers, and they've been accused of attacking the IT ...
10 months ago Techtarget.com
Ransomware Attacks in November Rise 67% From 2022 - Global levels of ransomware attacks rose 30% in November, with a total of 442 attacks, following a lower volume of attacks in October according to NCC Group's November Threat Pulse. As the third most active month of the year, ransomware levels in ...
10 months ago Darkreading.com
Cyberattacks Intensify on Israeli and Palestinian Human Rights Groups - Hackers have stepped up efforts to take down the websites of Israeli and Palestinian humanitarian groups since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.The spike in cyberattacks on Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem has reached levels similar to ...
11 months ago Wsj.com

Latest Cyber News


Cyber Trends (last 7 days)


Trending Cyber News (last 7 days)