Cybercriminals are always on the lookout for ways and means to make attacks more destructive. In the quarter ended December 2020, the number of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks increased by 10 percent compared to the same period in 2019, according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.

However, compared to the third quarter of 2020, the number of such attacks dropped by 31 percent, with the decline believed to be connected to a rise in cryptocurrency mining, said Kaspersky.

During the course of 2020, online activity increased manifold with people staying indoors since the introduction of COVID-19 social distancing norms and the pandemic-induced lockdown. As a result, DDoS attacks surged with the targets being online educational institutions and gaming services.

What happens in a DDoS attack?

The hackers attempt to deny access to rightful customers, thereby affecting transactions. Such attacks are meant to affect a particular service for genuine users. Hackers usually send many requests to the target websites, which far exceed their capacity, thereby weakening their ability to function normally.

Focus on cryptocurrency mining

Kaspersky stated that in 2019 and the beginning of 2020, the number of people mining cryptocurrency had dropped. But from August 2020 onwards the trend changed, and cryptomining became more lucrative. So Kaspersky states, it’s more that cybercriminals have re-profiled a few botnets to enable C&C servers, usually used in DDoS attacks, to repurpose infected devices and use their computing power to mine cryptocurrencies. The spike in cryptocurrency prices makes it hugely profitable for cybercriminals to infect few devices with miners.

‘Trend to continue in 2021’

Alexey Kiselev, the business development manager of the Kaspersky DDoS Protection team, said that, at present, the DDoS attack market is affected by two opposite trends: 1) People still relying a lot on online resources, making DDoS attacks a common choice for malefactors, and 2) the spike in cryptocurrency prices making it more profitable for cybercriminals to infect some devices with miners. “As a result, the number of DDoS attacks in Q4 remained quite stable,” said Kiselev, adding that they predict the trend to continue in 2021 as well.