December 27, 2023 at 09:14AM
Threat groups are increasingly sophisticated in evading detection and causing harm. Security practitioners note a rise in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks during peak business times, especially during the holiday season. Organizations are advised to evaluate risks, deploy DDoS protection, and create response strategies to defend against these attacks and minimize potential damage.
Based on the meeting notes provided, here are the key takeaways:
1. There has been an increase in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks during peak business times, particularly during the holiday season. Microsoft reported an average of 1,435 attacks per day in 2022, with a peak of 2,215 attacks on Sept. 22, 2022.
2. Organizations often experience reduced security staffing and limited monitoring resources during the holidays, making them more vulnerable to DDoS attacks. Attackers take advantage of the high traffic volumes and revenues earned by organizations during this time.
3. Cybercriminals can execute DDoS attacks for as little as $5 through a cybercrime-as-a-service business model, while small and midsize organizations can incur an average cost of $120,000 to restore services and manage operations during an attack.
4. Three main categories of DDoS attacks were outlined: volumetric attacks targeting bandwidth, protocol attacks exploiting weaknesses in Layers 3 and 4 of the protocol stack, and resource layer attacks disrupting the transmission of data between hosts.
5. To defend against DDoS attacks during peak business seasons, organizations should take three proactive measures: evaluating risks and vulnerabilities, deploying a DDoS protection service with advanced mitigation capabilities, and creating a DDoS response strategy with a coordinated response team.
6. DDoS events during peak business times can result in lost sales, disgruntled customers, high recovery costs, and damage to the organization’s reputation. However, with preparation and proactive measures, organizations can help ensure they are ready to address the threat of DDoS attacks.
Let me know if you need further details or if there are specific actions you’d like to take based on these takeaways.