100% Increase in DDoS Attacks Against India

Summary

NETSCOUT and ASERT have observed massive increases in DDoS attacks against Indian targets. This near doubling of DDoS attacks since the beginning of 2023 has been fueled by a rallying call from hacker groups Anonymous Sudan and Killnet. These attacks have largely targeted airports, among other key industries throughout the nation. Anonymous Sudan has also released a list of 6 new targets, including the largest bank in India, that provides evidence that this is just the beginning of this lashing of DDoS activity. 

DDoS Attacks Against India Are Getting Bigger, Faster, and Stronger

Not only has the frequency of attacks increased, but the bandwidth (size) and throughput (speed) have followed suit. In recent weeks, both measures of the scale of a DDoS attack have seen significant surges. With these increases, the attacks become more difficult to mitigate and ultimately stop. 

Several DDoS Attack Vectors Are Being Used Simultaneously

Adversaries are deploying a variety of attack vectors in this surge of activity. Most notably, NETSCOUT and ASERT are seeing TCP ACK, UDP Flood, and ICMP Floods being deployed here. There is also a significant number of DNS query flooding (water torture) attacks leveraged in the barrage. 

What Lies Next for DDoS Attacks Against India?

With the response to this recent call to arms, there is a strong likelihood that these attacks will continue to occur. This is proof that politically motivated DDoS attacks continue to be commonplace on the attack landscape. These types of attacks can interrupt key services across nations to cripple travel, healthcare, and many other important industries.

While Anonymous Sudan has claimed these attacks are punishment for anti-muslim activities and legislation, some believe there is another motivation at hand. The ties to the pro-Russian group Killnet are undeniable, and many believe Anonymous Sudan is actually operating as a sub-group of Killnet.

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