The number of DDoS attacks increased by 84% in the first quarter of 2019 compared to Q4 2018, according to new research from Kaspersky Lab.
The global cybersecurity company’s findings, detailed in its DDoS Attacks in Q1 2019 report, come in the wake of dramatically falling numbers of DDoS attacks recorded throughout 2018, suggesting that cyber-criminals are once again turning to DDoS as an attack method after a sustained period of shifting their attention to other sources of income last year, such as cryptomining.
What’s more, Kaspersky Lab discovered a substantial growth in the amount of attacks that lasted more than an hour. The company suggested that the launch of newer DDoS-for-Hire services could explain the sudden rise in the number of DDoS attacks in 2019.
“The DDoS attack market is changing,” said Alexey Kiselev, business development manager on the Kaspersky DDoS Protection team. “New DDoS services appear to have replaced ones shut down by law enforcement agencies. As organizations implement basic countermeasures, attackers target them with long-lasting attacks. It is difficult to say if the number of attacks will continue to grow, but their complexity is showing no signs of slowing down.
“We recommend that organizations prepare themselves effectively, in order to withstand sophisticated DDoS attacks.”
•           Ensuring that web and IT resources can handle high traffic
•           Using professional solutions to protect the organization against attacks