Kaspersky Lab: A Quarter of DDoS Attacks Claim Unintended Victims
Over a quarter of businesses that have been hit by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack don’t think they were the intended target, highlighting that businesses can’t afford to be complacent when it comes to today’s threat landscape. According to research* from Kaspersky Lab, 27% of respondents said being an innocent bystander was the most likely reason for DDoS attacks on their organization, suggesting that all businesses are in the firing line, even when they are not on the hit list.
The continued threat of DDoS attacks and the value that they bring to those that deploy them – from halting company operations, through to accessing confidential information or demanding a ransom – means that all businesses are potential targets. Despite this, organizations are still showing signs of cyber-complacency, with 28% not using specialized anti-DDoS protection because they believe they are unlikely to be targeted by DDoS attacks.
However, this complacency is misplaced. Of the companies that experienced a security incident within the last 12 months, 44% blamed a DDoS attack as being a contributing factor to that incident – up from a quarter (25%) in 2016. This shows the impact of these types of attacks in today’s workplace and the need for organisations to proactively defend themselves against them.
It’s not just unintended attacks that firms must be ready to ward off at a moment’s notice. Nearly a quarter (23%) of businesses believe a competitor was behind a DDoS attack on their organisation – most likely for espionage or disruption purposes; 24% believed it was used as a distraction tactic to hide another attack from IT staff, and 24% believe that a DDoS attack was designed to specifically disrupt their operations.
“A worryingly large proportion of businesses are still displaying an ‘it won’t happen to me mentality’ towards DDoS attacks, which they simply can’t afford to do in today’s threat landscape,” commented Alexey Kiselev, Project Manager on the Kaspersky DDoS Protection team. “The number of attacks, combined with the range of targets that have been discovered over the last 12 months, has shown that no business is safe from cybercriminals and, as such, organisations must be prepared to take responsibility for their cybersecurity. When it comes to protecting critical data and keeping operations up and running, there is simply no room for complacency.”
With the financial consequences of DDoS attacks ranging from fighting against the attack itself, to a loss of revenue or business opportunities, it’s certainly better to be safe than sorry. That’s where Kaspersky DDoS Protection comes into play, providing a fully-integrated solution with advanced intelligence capabilities to protect businesses of all sizes from the most complex and high-volume DDoS attacks. More information can be found here.
