Financial services is also most at risk for phishing and
brand impersonation
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies,
Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud company that powers and
protects life online, today released a new State of the Internet
(SOTI) report that shows financial services remains the most
frequently targeted industry by Layers 3 and 4 distributed
denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks for the second consecutive
year. Navigating the Rising Tide: Attack Trends in Financial
Services finds that financial services account for 34% of DDoS
attacks. This is followed by gaming at 18% and high technology at
15%.
Layer 3 and Layer 4 DDoS attacks target network and transport
layers, overwhelming network infrastructure and exhausting server
resources and bandwidth. The report reveals that the increased DDoS
events stem from ongoing geopolitical tensions, which have fueled a
surge in hacktivist activities. This includes one of the largest
cyberattacks Akamai has ever observed against a major
financial services company in Israel.
Navigating the Rising Tide: Attack Trends in Financial Services
also details the involvement of well-known threat actors such
as REvil, BlackCat (ALPHV), Anonymous Sudan, KillNet, and
NoName057 — all notable for their activities related to the
Russia-Ukraine war.
Other main findings of the report include:
- Financial services is the sector most impacted by brand
impersonation and abuse (36%). This is far ahead of the second most
targeted vertical — commerce (26%).
- Phishing dominates the counterfeit domains that are targeting
financial services, accounting for 68% of all recorded instances.
Brand impersonation follows in second place, representing 24% of
all recorded domains.
- Akamai observed sharp increases in the number of Layer 7 DDoS
attacks that specifically target APIs. Of particular concern are
undocumented shadow APIs, which are often unprotected because
information security teams are unaware of their existence.
Attackers can exploit these APIs to exfiltrate data, bypass
authentication controls, or perform disruptive acts.
- DDoS event frequency doesn't always correlate with attack
intensity. Although some months show few attacks, the corresponding
data indicates significant traffic spikes, emphasizing the need to
consider both attack frequency and volume when assessing DDoS
attacks.
"Cybercrime poses a significant threat to the financial services
sector as it tries to cause widespread disruption and serious
economic damage," said Steve
Winterfeld, Advisory CISO at Akamai. "This report is
designed specifically to help financial services cybersecurity
professionals around the globe understand the increasingly complex
threat landscape and best practices to protect customers."
Navigating the Rising Tide: Attack Trends in Financial
Services also features a guest column from the Global Head of
Intelligence at FS-ISAC; a case study on credential stuffing
attacks; a security spotlight on DDoS attack intensity; regional
data; sections on Zero Trust and microsegmentation; and mitigation
strategies for defending against DDoS attacks, phishing, brand
abuse, and ransomware.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Akamai's SOTI reports.
The SOTI series provides expert insights on the cybersecurity and
web performance landscapes, based on data gathered
About Akamai Security
Akamai Security protects the applications that drive your
business at every point of interaction, without compromising
performance or customer experience. By leveraging the scale of our
global platform and its visibility to threats, we partner with you
to prevent, detect, and mitigate threats, so you can build brand
trust and deliver on your vision. Learn more about Akamai's cloud
computing, security, and content delivery solutions
at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai
Technologies on X, formerly known as Twitter,
and LinkedIn.
Contact
Jim
Lubinskas
Akamai Media Relations
703.907.9103
jlubinsk@akamai.com
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SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.