FCA reports soar in DDoS attacks following Russia-Ukraine war

New Financial Conduct Authority data shows that Distributed Denial of Service incidents rose by over 20% in the first half of 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, cyber software vendor Picus Security uncovered a step rise in the number of DDoS attacks reported to FCA, with 25% of all incidents submitted to the government-backed regulator involving DDoS, compared to just 4% in 2021.

DDoS attacks flood an organisation’s network with unwanted traffic with the aim of disrupting operations or bringing them down entirely.

According to Suleyman Ozarslan, Picus Security co-founder and VP of Picus Labs, the primary reason for the increase in DDoS attacks was UK finance firms becoming targeted by nation-state attackers and hacktivists during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

DDoS attacks, including sophisticated ‘carpet-bombing,’ are often used against providers of critical infrastructure to disrupt operations and deny access to vital services.

“UK financial institutions are in the crossfire of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and have become a direct target for nation-state attackers and hacktivists seeking to disrupt Ukraine’s allies,” says Ozarslan.

The observed rise in DDoS attacks also coincides with a reported increase in DDoS for hire websites and ransomware operators using DDoS as a tactic to pressure and extort money from targets.

To learn more about hackers and the marketplaces in which they operate check out the first article in our four-part Ransomware series, published this week.