Telecoms - Beware Of The DDoS Threat Actor

Uploaded on 2024-05-31 in TECHNOLOGY--Resilience, FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-IT & Telecoms

Recently, the number of internet users has skyrocketed, reaching 5.44 billion people. That means more than two-thirds of the world’s population is now connected through the worldwide web. However, with this comes growing concern around the threat of large-scale cyberattacks - and we are already seeing an upward trend in the number of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks being launched.

In the second half of 2023, NETSCOUT observed over 7 million DDoS attacks, representing a 15 percent increase on the first half of the year. Across 2023, NETSCOUT's findings revealed that a total of 13,141,562 DDoS attacks were launched globally.

These attacks are driven by an increasing number of sophisticated threat actors who are continually adapting their methods and discovering new attack vectors. They can have significant and costly impacts on organisations across various industries, like telecommunications.

Targeting The Telecommunications Sector

Looking again at the last six months of 2023, wired telecommunications carriers throughout EMEA experienced a wave of DDoS attacks, with over 650,000 taking place, marking an eight percent increase on the first half of 2023. In fact, wired and wireless telecoms providers were the two most targeted industries throughout the year across EMEA.

DDoS attacks pose a major threat to telcos due to the damage they can cause. An attack can incapacitate users, preventing access to essential online services, websites and business-critical applications by forcefully taking them offline. This impacts not only operational capabilities but also damages the organisation's reputation.

Telecoms providers play a critical role in facilitating global connectivity, making them an attractive target for cybercriminals.

When attackers target telcos, there is a chain reaction through the ecosystem, potentially disrupting internet access for millions of customers and severely hampering business operations. The extensive customer base of these providers also makes them a prime target for cybercrime.

Why DDoS Attacks Against This Industry Are Rapidly Increasing

The number of attacks against wireless providers has increased in tandem with the number of commercial 5G networks being deployed globally. According to Statista, the number of 5G mobile subscribers and devices, which stood at 12.6 million in 2019, is projected to reach 5.9 billion by 2027.

A significant driver behind this increase is the transition of many users from traditional broadband access to 5G fixed wireless access, with gamers leading the charge.

In fact, most cases of DDoS attacks against service provider networks can be traced back to gaming-related activities, which contributes to the overall increase in DDoS activity across the sector. The growth of 5G wireless connectivity and the number of users choosing 5G as their primary network has also expanded the DDoS attack surface.

Since the end of 2019, there has been a marked rise in DNS query floods designed to overwhelm authoritative DNS servers, with a massive 553 percent increase from 1H2020 to 2H2023. This attack method involves threat actors bombarding the domain name system (DNS) servers with requests, aiming to overwhelm them and trigger a denial of service. Once again, the most targeted industries were wired and wireless telcos, with bad actors deploying increasingly advanced and diverse attacks.

How Can Service Providers Protect Themselves?

Investing in threat intelligence is critical, as it enables providers to spot trends and focus on the most vulnerable attack vectors. Organisations in the sector, or any sector for that matter, should also conduct regular scenario-based training exercises which simulate DDoS attacks to assess the strength of their defences in real time.

Visibility into network activities is fundamental to combating DDoS threats. By detecting the early indicators of an attack, telcos can better predict and prevent attacks. This intelligence can enable security professionals to limit attack options for threat actors and force them to take a singular approach. Doing so will reduce their potential to exploit vulnerabilities and cause widespread damage.

The threat landscape is constantly evolving, with the volume and complexity of DDoS attacks increasing at pace. This creates unprecedented challenges for telecoms providers, as they are key targets for cybercriminals. As such, all organisations across the industry should take proactive steps now to defend their online infrastructure from current and future threats.

Image: sasha85ru

Richard Hummel is Threat Intelligence lead for NETSCOUT

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