Press Release
The government sector experienced a surge of DDoS attacks in Q4 according to Lumen Technologies, a global leader in integrated network and cybersecurity solutions. The Lumen Quarterly DDoS and Application Threat Report for Q4 2023 analyzes data from its DDoS mitigation platform and application protection partner, ThreatX, to provide an overview of the DDoS and application-layer attacks that targeted organizations in the last quarter of 2023.
According to the report, the government sector was hit hard:
- 66% of the 1,000 largest attacks Lumen mitigated were targeting the government.
- Government attacks increased 163% from Q3 and a staggering 4,025% year over year.
- One government customer accounted for 1,759 attacks of the 1,953 government attacks in Q4, showing a persistent and focused campaign by cybercriminals.
“The government sector holds extremely sensitive data, so you can understand why it is a prime target for cyberattacks,” said Sharada Achanta, Lumen VP of Product, Cybersecurity and AI. “Espionage, extortion, and disruptions are the reasons behind these attacks, and the attackers are not deterred by the increased security measures. The good news is that Lumen, through our Black Lotus Labs threat intelligence, can stop the attacks that cross our network before they become destructive. Lumen’s threat intelligence and DDoS mitigation, powered by AI and machine learning, offer customers a distinctive and comprehensive cybersecurity solution.”
Lumen’s report also reveals that its largest DDoS attack of 2023 happened in Q4, reaching a peak of 903 Gbps. This attack targeted a telecom customer, which is part of a trend of telecom being a frequent target of attacks because it carries traffic for all other industries.
