The outlook isn ’ t exactly rosy , however : volumetric attacks are being replaced by multi-vector attacks , spreading destruction more widely by targeting individual IP addresses , email systems , databases or web browsers – which are much harder to detect .

“ What we ’ re seeing is that cybercrime is only getting savvier ,” said Anna Claiborne , Senior VP of Network Connectivity at Zayo . “ AI is presenting itself as a double-edged sword in this space . On one side of the blade , criminals are using AI to increase the sophistication of attacks and circumvent traditional defence mechanisms ; on the other , mitigation platforms are using AI to dynamically identify and defend against new and emerging threats .

“ As DDoS remains a profitable model for cybercriminals , attacks will continue to be a brutal inevitability for businesses . But luckily , DDoS protection is also rising to the occasion ,” Claiborne added .

New Zayo report analyses trends in Distributed Denial of Service ( DDoS ) attacks from 2023 , with new insights from the second half of the year . ayo Group , a leading global

According to new Zayo data , the average DDoS attack lasted 68 minutes in 2023 . With unprotected organisations shelling out an average of £ 4,700 per minute of each attack , that totals a startling £ 325,000 average cost to businesses for DDoS attacks .

A key driver to this enormous cost was the steep rise in the duration of DDoS attacks throughout the year . The average length of attacks surged by more than 400 % from Q1 to Q4 of last year – from an average of 24 minutes to 121 minutes – signalling a worrying trend from both security and cost perspectives .

The astonishing volume of DDoS attacks in the first half of 2023 – up 200 % from all of 2022 – seemed to have contracted in the second half of the year . Across all industries , comparing Q4 to Q1 2023 , companies saw a 16 % increase in attack activity .

Key findings by industry :

• Telecommunications companies experienced the most frequent attacks , comprising about 40 % of total attack volume with nearly 13,000 attacks in H2 2023 .

• Retail and healthcare companies experienced the largest attacks in H2 , with an average attack size of 2.5 Gbps across companies in these two industries .

• Government entities once again experienced the longest attacks with the average attack duration increasing from 4 hours in H1 , to 18 hours in H2 , increasing by 322 %. This is a 1,141 % increase from Q1 to Q4 of 2023 .

• Educational institutions accounted for 17 % of all attacks last year , thanks in part to the ease and affordability of botnet-for-hire services combined with frequent gaps in the cybersecurity of the institutions .

Why it matters :

DDoS attacks are here to stay – and cybercriminals are not discriminating over an organisation ’ s size , industry or business model . These attacks cost organisations thousands of dollars per attack ,

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