Cyber Threats Surge in 2024: Web Attacks Triple, Ukraine Targeted Most
Cyber threats have surged in the first half of 2024, with a significant increase in web application and API attacks, and a tripling of application-layer DNS DDoS activity. Ukraine was the most targeted country by hacktivists, followed by the US, Israel, India, and Moldova.
The rise in DDoS attacks has been stark. Web DDoS attacks increased by 265% compared to the second half of 2023. Almost 3% of these attacks exceeded 1 million requests per second (RPS) in intensity. Notably, a six-day DDoS attack campaign targeted a UAE financial institution, attributed to hacktivist group SN_BLACKMETA.
Ukraine bore the brunt of hacktivist activity. The domains rada.gov.ua and tax.gov.ua were the most targeted by DDoS attacks since January 2023. Pro-Russia group NoName057(16) was the most active threat actor during this period, claiming between 1000 to 1200 DDoS attacks per month.
The first half of 2024 saw a significant escalation in cyber threats, particularly web application and DDoS attacks. While Ukraine was the most targeted country, the global impact was widespread, with increased attacks on web applications and APIs, and a rise in locked network-layer DDoS attacks. The public administration sector in the EU was a primary target, with Vietnam reporting nearly 530,000 DDoS attacks in this period.
