Data collected by Kaspersky researchers has found a massive boost in DDoS attacks in the first quarter of this year.

Compared to Q1 2021, the number of DDoS attacks at the start of 2022 rose 4.5 times with a considerable number of the attacks likely to be the result of hacktivist activity.

The attacks showed an unprecedented duration for DDoS sessions, particularly those aimed at state resources and banks. These interrupt network resources used by businesses and organisations and prevent them from functioning properly.

Attacks like these become even more dangerous if the compromised systems are in government or financial sectors, as these services being unavailable has knock-on effects that affect the wider population.

Late February saw a sudden increase in attacks as a result of the crisis in Ukraine, researchers from Kasperksy said.

Compared to figures from Q4 2021, which had been considered the all-time highest number of DDoS attacks detected by the company, Q1 2022 saw the total number of DDoS increase by 46% compared to the same quarter in 2021.

The amount of “smart” and targeted attacks also showed a considerable 81% growth compared to the previous record from Q4 2021. The attacks were not only performed at scale but were also innovative, Kaspersky said.

Further investigation revealed that an average DDoS session lasted 80 times longer than those in Q1 2021. The longest attack was detected on March 29 with an atypically long duration of 177 hours.

“In Q1 2022 we witnessed an all-time high number of DDoS attacks. The upward trend was largely affected by the geopolitical situation,” said Alexander Gutnikov, security expert at Kaspersky.

“What is quite unusual is the long duration of the DDoS attacks, which are usually executed for immediate profit. Some of the attacks we observed lasted for days and even weeks, suggesting that they might have been conducted by ideologically motivated cyberactivists.

“We’ve also seen that many organisations were not prepared to combat such threats. All these factors have caused us to be more aware of how extensive and dangerous DDoS attacks can be. They also remind us that organisations need to be prepared against such attacks,” he added.

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To stay protected against DDoS attacks, Kaspersky specialists offered a series of recommendations to business leaders and companies.

They said to assign specialists who understand how to respond to DDoS attacks, and ensure validation of third-party agreements and contact information, including those made with internet service providers. “This helps teams quickly access agreements in case of an attack,” researchers said.

Companies should also implement “professional solutions” to safeguard against attacks, as well as adopting network and application monitoring tools as an effective way to identify traffic trends and tendencies.

“By understanding your company’s typical traffic patterns and characteristics, you can establish a baseline to more easily identify unusual activity that is symptomatic of a DDoS attack,” they said.

Finally, Kaspersky said that firms should implement a “restrictive Plan B” defensive posture ready to “be in a position to rapidly restore business-critical services in the face of a DDoS attack”.

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