Dedicated Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are associated with extreme damage, as they cause online platforms to go offline. Although there could be different reasons for the launch of a DDoS attack, a new report suggests that many of these attacks against online gambling and other websites originate mostly from the US, rather than Russia or China.
As part of the report, Tech Business News compiled data gathered by the US-based international cybersecurity company Cloudflare showing a 15% increase in the number of DDoS attacks in the first and second quarters of 2023. The last six months of 2022, on the other hand, have seen a 35% decline. Cloudflare reported a total of 7.5 trillion attack requests in the third quarter of 2022 – a number that dropped to 4.7 trillion attack requests by the first quarter of 2023, before eventually marking a massive increase last quarter.
Reportedly, the Dedicated Denial of Service attacks target mostly websites and Application Programming Interface (API) gateways that serve as the frontline for various companies, such as online gambling operators that offer their customers a central point of access. Through that point of access, the operator can take the user to the platform area of their choice.
According to Cloudflare’s report, six of every 10,000 hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests to crypto websites were part of a DDoS attack. The request is sent every time someone enters a website URL into the browser. After crypto websites, which topped the list of targets for the attacks, are gambling and gaming websites, followed by marketing and advertising websites. Non-profit platforms were also affected, with 12% of Dedicated Denial of Service attacks targeting them.
The US Reported as the Primary Source and Target of DDoS Attacks
As mentioned above, China, North Korea and Russia have been primarily associated with Dedicated Denial of Service attacks, especially when it comes to attacks that are targeting crypto accounts. The US Government has shared suspicions that North Korean hackers have so far stolen over $3 billion in crypto. Chinese hackers, on the other hand, have been involved in some breaches of US Government email accounts, and hackers associated with some groups supporting Russia, such as Killnet, REvil, and Anonymous Sudan, have initiated some DDoS attacks against websites backing “Western interests” in the quarter.
The latest Cloudflare research states that none of these organizations were the ones to blame for the increased number of DDoS attacks over the last two quarters. Instead, when it comes to attacks traffic volume, the US has been named as the primary source of HTTP DDoS attacks, followed by China and Germany. Israel is fourth.
The US, however, does not only appear as the country that has led most of the attacks, but it is also the one targeted most. Canada and Singapore follow in second and third place. The gambling and gaming market in Europe was the most targeted of all gaming ecosystems. When it comes to the US, the advertising and marketing ecosystem was the one primarily targeted by the DDoS attacks, while the primary cryptocurrency target for DDoS attacks was Asia.
