DDoS Statistics: Dynamics of DDoS Attacks In Australia

DDoS attack statistics

DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attacks are a major multiple-machine threat to the hosting industry. A DDoS attack causes traffic overload, aiming to disable the target’s network and thus leave a website dysfunctional.

DDoS attacks reached their climax in March 2021 on our continent. Why are they so popular and why are Aussie businesses highly targeted? 

Dive further into the DDoS Statistics for 2021 and discover the biggest DDoS attacks in Australia that have shaken the economy.

Fascinating Facts

  • The first-ever DDoS attack was recorded on 7 February 2000 and caused an immense $1.2 billion financial damage.
  • An hour of DDoS attack is sold for as little as $10 on the Dark Web.
  • An hour of a successful DDoS attack can cause $100,000 damage for an average business.
  • The average DDoS attack in Australia is usually around 2mpbs.
  • DDoS attacks are increasing globally, recording a massive 542% popularity rise.
  • The Asia Pacific Region was the hackers’ top target for DDoS attacks in 2021.
  • The most popular botnet used for DDoS attacks used to be the Mirai botnet, which appeared in August 2016.
  • The newly released 2021 botnet Meris broke the record for the largest volumetric attack.  
  • DDoS attacks are among the top threats to cloud-based computing technology.
  • 80% of mobile banking tools are vulnerable and exposed to DDoS attacks.

General DDoS Attack Statistics: 2021 in Numbers

1. There are many different types of DDoS attacks using various techniques, but all of them report similar symptoms:

(Norton)

  • Lost or unstable Internet connection.
  • The spam email folder gets busy quickly.
  • You’re unable to access certain web pages for a prolonged period.
  • Access to files on the network is incredibly slow, whether locally or remotely.
  • Problems accessing all webpages, though the Internet connection is available.

2. DDoS attacks are recording an enormous rise in popularity, marking a whopping 542% increase compared to 2019.

(Hosting Tribunal)

This is likely the effect of the COVID-19 lockdowns, which took more people and traffic online.

3. Surveys show that more than one third of companies suffer from DDoS attacks.

(Corero)

According to the survey of business executives, 35% of businesses report they had experienced a DDoS attack in the previous year. In 2020, Aussies reported around 160 cybercrimes daily.

4. In 2021, there was a record number of reports on DDoS attacks.

(Mission Critical Magazine)

Solely in the first half of the year, more than 5.4 million attacks were reported, representing an 11% increase compared to the frequency of DDoS attacks in 2020. 

5. January saw the biggest surge of DDoS attacks around the world, while June was the steadiest period in 2021. 

(Mission Critical Magazine) 

With the number of DDoS attacks worldwide being incredibly high, at 972,000 in January, the world entered 2021 in a rather busy tempo. Over the months, the reported attacks started decreasing, falling to 759,000 in June, which is recorded as the lowest point in 2021 – a 10% decline.

6. The Asia Pacific Region was the top target of Network DDoS attacks in 2021.

(Australian Cyber Security Magazine)

With almost half of the globally recorded DDoS attacks in 2021, 46% targeted countries in the Asia Pacific region, mainly Taiwan (33.69%).

7. Australia is the 3rd most targeted country globally in Application DDoS attacks in 2021.

(Australian Cyber Security Magazine) 

Around 5% of the globally applied DDoS attacks targeted Australia in 2021, a decrease of about 50% compared to 2020, when more than 11% of global attacks were aimed towards Australian businesses and VPNs.

8. The most used gadget for performing a DDoS attack is Linux botnets. 

(Securelist)

Accounting for almost all DDoS traffic (99.9%), Linux botnets are undoubtedly the most often used weapon in the arsenal of DDoS hackers around the globe.  

(Reversing Labs)

The Mirai was the most potent tool in the DDoS arsenal, infecting more than 600,000 devices from its creation up to 2019. It was launched online in August 2016 and has been used since as a weapon in one of the largest DDoS attacks reported.

10. Some of the most commonly used DDoS techniques around the globe are: 

(Imperva) (Hosting Tribunal)

  • UDP FLooding – around 20% of DDoS attacks in 2018 used this method
  • ICMP (Ping) Flooding 
  • SYN Flooding 
  • POD (Ping Of Death) 
  • HTTP Flooding (the second most used approach in a DDoS attack today)
  • Zero-Day DDoS Attacks
  • NTP Amplification
  • Slowloris

11. Cloud DDoS attacks make up 14% of all attacks . 

(Hosting Tribunal)

This puts DDoS attacks among top threats to cloud computing technology. 

12. Nearly 25,000 distinct DDoS attacks occur daily around the globe. 

(Corero)

If you’re wondering just how many DDoS attacks occur on a regular basis, the answer is – an average of 23,000 distinguished DDoS attacks per day around the globe. So it’s best to stay on your toes and keep your system protected.

13. A successful interception can help a business recover somewhere about 26% of the loss and damage caused by the DDoS attack. 

(Cloud Security Alliance) 

Here are some of the most popular and globally used standard defence techniques

  • Increasing Bandwidth 
  • Leverage a CDN solution (preferably Multi CDN)
  • Implement a cybersecurity plan (suite), considering the threats of a DDoS attack
  • Obtain server-level DDoS protection
  • Make simple hardware configuration adjustments to secure the device or the entire network.
  • Switch to hybrid or cloud-based solutions and services.

14. DDoS Attacks are a severe cybercrime and are considered illegal in most countries. 

(ICLG)

In Australia, DDoS attacks are criminalised by section 477.3 of the Penalty Code, considered an ‘offence of Unauthorised impairment of electronic communication’.

DDoS Attack Dynamics

15. There’s a wide variety of DDoS attacks, but the most common types are: 

(HP)

  • Volumetric attacks
  • Protocol attacks
  • Application attacks

16. The most successful DDoS attacks are typically very short. 

(Telia Carrier)

Being visible and massive, prolonged DDoS attacks are usually unsuccessful. So, how long does a DDoS attack last? The average attack in 2021 was measured to last somewhere around a 10-minute interval.

17. The longest DDoS recorded in 2021 lasted for more than an entire month! 

(Securelist)

The longest DDoS attack of 2021 was recorded in the first quartal of 2021, and it lasted for an excruciating 776 hours – that’s over 32 days!

18. The world’s largest reported DDoS attack in 2021 occurred in the most silent period of June 2021.

(Mission Critical Magazine)

The attack targeted an internet service provider in Germany with approximately 1.5 terabytes per second bandwidth.

19. The newly released Meris botnet broke the record for the largest volumetric attack two times in the summer of 2021. 

(The Record)

Firstly released as an extortion campaign tool against financial entities and internet providers worldwide, including Australia, the Meris botnet consists of an estimated 250,000 infected devices and is currently considered the strongest bot terrorising the Internet space. 

20. Microsoft successfully intercepted and mitigated a 2.4-terabits per second DDoS attack.

(The Record)

Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Service mitigated and intercepted the second biggest DDoS attack ever recorded, at the end of August 2021, carried out through a botnet consisting of a 70,000-bot army. This serves as proof of just how big DDoS attacks can be.

21. The biggest DDoS attack in history took place on 5 September 2021.

(Wired)

The Russian tech giant Yandex reported a DDoS attack of nearly 22 million requests per second during August and September of 2021, reaching its peak on September 5th. According to their statement, it was successfully intercepted. 

22. One of the largest DDoS attacks in Australia took place in June 2017.

(Security Brief)

At 228 Gbps, this massive DDoS attack targeted Australia almost four years ago. The average size of an Australian DDoS attack is somewhere around 2gbps. 

23. The most notorious DDoS attack, taking over huge global websites, and causing around $1.2 billion damage, was operated by a high-schooler. 

(Cloudbric)

Michael Calce, a.k.a. “Mafiaboy”, managed to take control over some of the largest world-known websites, such as Amazon, eBay, E-Trade, Yahoo!, CNN, and Dell, by flooding them with an incredible amount of traffic, bringing them down and making them unavailable for clients. The famous DDoS attacks occurred on 7 February 2000, with the 15-year-old teenager inflicting massive $1.2 billion damage to the market!

DDoS Attack Cost

24. The average cost of a DDoS is between $20.000 – $40.000 per hour.

(Soft Activity)

This sum is estimated per average company on the market, with a high possibility of reaching $50,000, considering the growing trend of DDoS attacks and their increased sophistication. 

26. Small businesses estimate up to $120,000 damages per single DDoS attack. 

(PYMNTS)

However, that number can go up to $2 million if a DDoS attack targets bigger businesses and enterprises. 

27. DDoS attacks are sold for as low as $10 on the dark web.

(Privacy Affairs)

This is another reason why DDoS attacks have increased massively when a distributed DDoS attack costs between $10 for one hour and $60 for 24 hours. `Volume discount’ can even be found in the vast offer!

DDoS Attacks on Mobile Apps and Cloud

28. Approximately 80% of mobile financial and banking tools and apps are vulnerable and exposed to DDoS attacks.

(Appknox)

Considering that transactions can easily be intercepted, DDoS attacks are one of the world’s most prominent threats to mobile banking and mobile financial payments.

29. DDoS attacks are increasing in volume, with a 31% rise compared to 2020.

(Radware)

In the first part of 2021, the largest attack recorded was 295 Gbps.

Understanding DDoS – The First Step Towards Protection

With enormous bot armies, DDoS attacks have been the most common cybercrime of the year since the onset of the COVID pandemic. 

Targeting health care, banks, and COVID-related tools, hackers aim to overload the network and thus cause immense financial damages to the servers of corporations and businesses, with a strong chance of permanently impairing them. 

As presented in this DDoS statistics article, DDoS attacks in Australia are definitely on the rise, mainly focusing on high profiled industry, government, and business entities.

Sources:

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