DDoS attacks increased 350% after lockdown

This past spring and this summer, networks have become the preferred target for cyberattacks, as there are more people than ever connected online due to the pandemic DDoS attacks increased, which aim to saturate a network until the server crashes, against educational resources grew exponentially this spring compared to the previous year. In all months from January to June 2020, the number of DDoS attacks affecting online educational resources increased by at least 350% globally compared to the corresponding month of 2019, according to data from Kaspersky.

Why have DDoS increased and what they do?

In Denial of Services (DoS) attacks, cybercriminals try to overload a network server by generating a massive number of requests to cause an overload, denying access to users. DoS attacks involve only one computer, however the most popular modality is a Distributed Denial of Services (DDos) attack.

In this case, there are several computers that make massive and constant calls to the service, through the establishment of a botnet, a series of infected computers that can perform tasks simultaneously. DDoS attacks are particularly problematic because they can last from a couple of days to a few weeks, causing disruptions to organizations’ operations and – in the case of educational resources – denying students and staff access to critical materials.

This past spring and this summer, networks have become the preferred target for cyberattacks, as more people than ever are online due to the pandemic. In fact, globally, the total number of DDoS attacks increased by 80% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2019. Furthermore, attacks on educational resources accounted for a large part of this growth.

DDoS attacks weren’t the only cyber threats teachers and students faced last spring. From January to June 2020, 168,550 unique Kaspersky users encountered a growing number of various threats distributed under the guise of popular online learning platforms and video conferencing applications (Moodle, Zoom, edX, Coursera, Google Meet, Google Classroom, Blackboard). Teachers also encountered a growing number of phishing pages and emails exploiting these same platforms, also putting them at risk of downloading various threats.

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