Kaspersky report reveals the return of major DDoS threats, which are now also lasting longer than ever before.

Long-lasting DDoS attacks are back, and they’re harder than ever, new research has claimed.

According to a report from Kaspersky Lab, the second three months of 2017 saw a DDoS attack last more than 11 days – 277 hours straight.

That’s a 131 per cent increase compared to Q1 2017, and a record for the year so far.

The report also says that duration was not the only key feature of DDoS attacksthis quarter, identifying a ‘dramatic change’ in the geography of these threats. The top 10 most affected countries are China, South Korea, USA, Hong Kong, UK, Russia, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and France — with Italy and the Netherlands replacing Vietnam and Denmark among the top targets in Q1.

Al Jazeera, Le Monde and Figaro were the biggest targets, alongside Skype servers. Criminals also tried to manipulate cryptocurrency prices through DDoS. Bitfinex was attacked simultaneously with the launch of trading in a new cryptocurrency called IOTA token.

“Nowadays, it’s not just experienced teams of hi-tech cybercriminals that can be Ransom DDoS-attackers. Any fraudster who doesn’t even have the technical knowledge or skill to organise a full-scale DDoS attack can purchase a demonstrative attack for the purpose of extortion. These people are mostly picking unsavvy companies that don’t protect their resources from DDoS in any way and therefore, can be easily convinced to pay ransom with a simple demonstration,” comments Kirill Ilganaev, head of Kaspersky DDoS protection at Kaspersky Lab.

Source: http://www.itproportal.com/news/long-lasting-ddos-attacks-are-back/