Hacktivist activity drives a rise in DDoS attacks

The first half of this year has seen a 43 percent increase in the number of application-layer attacks and a 30 percent increase in volumetric attacks, especially in Europe and the Middle East, according to the latest threat report from NETSCOUT. The attacks involve a range of threat actors, including hacktivists, targeting critical infrastructure in the banking and financial services, government and utilities sectors. These attacks pose significant threats by disrupting vital civilian services in countries that oppose the hacktivists' ideologies. Key industries, already facing frequent and intense multi-vector attacks, experienced a 55 percent increase over the past four years.… [Continue Reading]