Security News > 2020 > March > Across-the-board increase in DDoS attacks of all sizes

There has been a 168% increase in DDoS attacks in Q4 2019, compared with Q4 2018, and a 180% increase overall in 2019 vs. 2018, according to Neustar.

The company saw DDoS attacks across all size categories increase in 2019, with attacks sized 5 Gbps and below seeing the largest growth.

Though the number of attacks increased significantly across all size categories, small-scale attacks again saw the largest growth in 2019, continuing the trend from the previous year.

The combination of DDoS-for-hire and botnet rental services has made DDoS attacks much easier to execute, but the fact that perpetrators seem to be in many cases choosing to engage in small-scale attacks suggests that their goal may often be something other than taking a site completely offline.

"Large, headline-making DDoS attacks do still take place, but many cybersecurity professionals believe that smaller attacks are being used simply to degrade site performance or as a smokescreen for other forms of cybercrime, such as data theft or network infiltration, which the perpetrator can execute more easily while the target's security team is busy fighting a DDoS attack," said Rodney Joffe, senior vice president, senior technologist and fellow at Neustar.

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