DDoS attacks grew 172% in 2016, and it will increase 2.5-fold to 3.1 million by 2021

Global digital transformation will continue to have a significant impact on the demands and requirements of IP networks, and according to the latest Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI), DDoS attacks will be one of the key concerns for the forecast period.

Cisco found that the number of DDoS attacks grew 172% in 2016, and expects that this will increase 2.5-fold to 3.1 million by 2021 globally.

Also, size matters: Already, the average DDoS attack size is increasing steadily and approaching 1.2Gbps—enough to take most organizations completely offline. This means that it has increased to 22%, which is relatively the same rate as internet traffic at 29% year over year.

The peak attack size however increased 60% year over year and represents up to 18% of a country’s total internet traffic while they are occurring, the VNI found.

“The fact that DDoS attacks are only going to increase even more, all businesses, both in and outside of the UK need to be vigilant in the face of it,” said Rob Norris, VP head of Enterprise & Cyber Security EMEIA at Fujitsu, via email. “To protect from DDoS attacks, organizations must understand the threat, risk and impact of DDoS attacks specific to their business and consider mitigation strategies based on good business continuity planning. From an industry perspective, industry peers need to share knowledge where appropriate, and keep government agencies informed; collaboration is key. It is a mixture of these solutions that will help deter hackers from launching a DDoS attack.”

The VNI predicts there to be a considerable increase in the attack surface and raw materials that could be used for DDoS though 2021, with average broadband speeds advancing from 27.5Mbps to 53Mbps, and internet of things (IoT) devices rising from 17.1 billion to 27.1 billion. Source