Although DDoS attacks are now a daily occurrence on days such as Cyber Monday, data from Lumen’s DDoS mitigation service shows that in 2021 and 2022, the days immediately preceding the US public holiday on 4 July were the busiest week for DDoS attacks. Lumen’s Q4 2022 DDoS report also shed light on another issue, predicting that throughout 2023, attackers will plan their attacks to coincide with major festivals and cultural events.

According to Lumen’s latest DDoS research, DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attackers are reportedly discovering new resources that they can exploit. Both cybercriminals and defenders are constantly evading detection. In 2022, attackers began using virtual, cloud-based services in ways never seen before. Lumen predicts that in 2023, they will be on the hunt for similarly novel DDoS attack strategies.

Lumen also predicts that, whilst large companies continue to strengthen their DDoS defences, attackers may turn their attention to small and medium-sized enterprises. These companies are often less well-protected in terms of cyber security, but still possess vital information and software that may prove attractive to cybercriminals.

The costs of a DDoS attack

Lumen’s fourth-quarter DDoS report also includes a breakdown of the potential costs of DDoS attacks. The estimate is based on information configured using Lumen’s DDoS Impact Calculator. As the costs are influenced by a number of variables, the researchers have devised a general use case based on the following assumptions:

The simulated victim is a software and technology company with an annual turnover of $2 billion, of which $500 million comes from online transactions. The company has a small IT team comprising two staff members who are responsible for resolving security issues. Security-related incidents result in an average of 25 calls to the support team per hour.

Cost estimate – According to forecasts, this company will be the victim of 13 DDoS attacks per year, with each attack costing nearly $21 million and causing 19 hours of downtime.

Some other noteworthy DDoS statistics from Lumen’s Q4 2022 DDoS report include the following:

• In the fourth quarter of 2018, around 90 per cent of DDoS attacks were likely to have been ‘hit-and-run’ operations. Threat actors typically use these short attacks, lasting no more than 30 minutes, to test a target’s defences before launching a longer, sustained attack.
• The number of DNS amplification attacks jumped by 73 per cent from one quarter to the next, despite the fact that DNS is a key service.
• Throughout 2022, Lumen thwarted 22 per cent more DDoS attacks than in 2021.

The largest attack thwarted by Lumen in 2022 was 1.06 Tbps. This took place in the second quarter of 2022 and was the largest DDoS attack that Lumen has managed to stop to date.

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