A new report from Imperva, a Thales cybersecurity company, has found a dramatic increase in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks across various industries already this year.

Highlighted in its just-published 2204 DDoS Threat Landscape Report, the security firm has noticed—and mitigated—an eye-watering 111% more DDoS attacks in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, underscoring the prominence of the escalating threat.

In terms of where’s being hit the hardest, the telecom and ISP industry experienced the highest year-over-year growth, with a 548% increase in application layer DDoS attacks—designed to attack specific vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, the healthcare industry saw a 236% increase in DDoS attacks, and the gaming industry witnessed a rise of 208%.

The report also uncovered that DDoS attacks targeting industries associated with sporting events have also risen by 89%, demonstrating how high-profile events attract cybercriminals seeking publicity.

Political tensions are seemingly contributing to the prevalence of DDoS attacks, too, with state actors and political activists often using these types of attacks to make statements or signal intentions. For instance, there’s been notable surges in Ukraine (519%), Israel (118%), and China (84%).

What’s more, the research further discovered that DDoS attacks have significantly escalated in scale. The company mitigated an “unusually large” attack against a Romanian online retail site measuring 4 million requests-per-second (RPS), which marked a 2000% increase on the previous record for an attack in that country.

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Imperva’s threat report comes just weeks after DIGIT reported on the news that botnets are being sold and/or rented for just $99, equating to around £77.59.

A botnet is a network of devices infected with malware, ranging from smart toothbrushes to advanced industrial internet devices that attackers use to organise automated mass attacks such as DDoS.

Further, in May, a separate report covered by DIGIT—DDoS Statistical Trends Report 2024, from cybersecurity firm Nexusguard—found that application attacks have shifted starkly towards Windows OS devices, comprising 87% of all DDoS targets in 2023 compared to just 15% the previous year.