Mulit-vector DDoS attacks targeting Layers 3, 4, and 7 simultaneously increased 47% in 2021 compared to the 2020 level, according to the 2021 Comcast Business DDoS Threat Report.
Comcast Business DDoS Mitigation Services identified and helped protect against nearly 25,000 multi-vector attacks targeting Layers 3,4, and 7 simultaneously, according to the report. Nearly 7-in-10 (69%) of Comcast Business customers experienced DDoS attacks, a 41% increase over the previous year. More than half (55%) were targets of multi-vector attacks in 2021. In 2020 most customers experienced single-vector attacks.
The report also found that:
- Everyone was at risk: DDoS attackers were indiscriminate sparing no verticals, from tow truck drivers to churches, government, utilities, IT companies, online gambling sites and manufacturing operations.
- More than 7-in-10 (73%) of all multi-vector attacks targeted the education, finance, government and healthcare sectors. Comcast Business theorized the reason was COVID-19-related vulnerabilities.
- Attacks on education customers tracked the school calendar, starting strong in January before dropping over the summer when schools were out
- Attacks on information technology customers grew by a factor of 10 between January and the end of the year.
- Nearly all (98%) of all multi-vector attacks were under 5 Gbps, indicating that fraudsters strike at low volumes to avoid detection, degrade site performance and map out network vulnerabilities for reconnaissance.
“DDoS attacks, when they occur, can be costly and difficult to defend. The risk of losing network, server and application availability is higher than ever,” said Shena Seneca Tharnish, Comcast Business vice president of cybersecurity products, in a prepared statement. “With threat actors constantly innovating, organizations must stay vigilant to help protect their infrastructure from bad actors determined to cause financial and reputational damage.”