The number of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and size have remained elevated throughout the first half of this year, as Q2 continues to near Q1's record-setting levels.

In the last year, DDoS attacks have become stronger and shorter. They are more difficult to detect, and can be catastrophic for any industry.

According to Prolexic's latest International DDoS Attack Report, Q2 has seen shifts in the industry targets compared to the previous quarter. Different types of malicious actors on the internet have influenced common targets for hackers, as the patterns and motives of the DDoS criminal ecosystem continue to shift.

Click through the following slides to see which industries were the most common targets for DDoS attacks in the second quarter of 2014.

1. Gaming

Gaming is the most-targeted industry, according to the report, accounting for more than 45% of total attacks. The industry, which includes any company related to online gaming or gaming-related content, is prone to attacks by motivated players seeking to gain a competitive advantage or by malicious actors seeking to steal personal data from players.

The industry received a large percentage of infrastructure layer attacks and a fair percentage of application-layer attacks in Q2, including 46% of all NYN floods and 68% of GET floods.

2. Software and technology

The software and technology industry, which includes companies that provide solutions such as SaaS and cloud-based technologies, was hit with the second-greatest number of attacks (22%), and was the most-frequently targeted with infrastructure-layer attacks.

The report reveals that the most popular attack vectors against the software and technology industry were DNS and NTP reflection and amplification attacks, accounting for 33% and 26% respectively. SYN floods made up approximately 22% of attacks, and UDP floods accounted for 27%.

3. Media and entertainment

The report reveals that the media and entertainment industry accounted for a smaller percentage of all attacks, at 15% in Q2. This marks a 39% decrease from last quarter.

Despite this shift, the media and entertainment industry remains one of the most targeted industries for hackers. These attacks often offer higher visibility for malicious actors, with press coverage that helps campaign organizers reach out to supporters and recruit new participants.

The media and entertainment industry was hit by mostly infrastructure attacks, including SYN floods (18%), UDP floods (25%) and UDP fragments (22%).

4. Financial services

Major financial institutions, such as banks and trading platforms, were targeted in 10% of all attacks in Q2, according to the Prolexic report.

Historically, financial institutions have been the target of many DDoS attacks, including those orchestrated by the group Izz ad-Din al Qassam Cyber Fighters (QCF), using the Brobot botnet.

The report discloses that recent activity indicates a possible resurgence of the use of the Brobot botnet, but the financial sector did not experience many major attack campaigns this quarter.

5. Internet and telecom

Including companies that offer internet-related services such as ISPs and CNDs, the internet and telecom industry was the fifth most-targeted industry in Q2, accounting for 4% of all attacks.

Infrastructure-layer attack vectors were the most common, with 10% of all attacks as UPD floods, and 9% as UPD fragments.

Internet and telecom was the target of 12% of all NTP flood attacks this quarter.

Special Reports /

5 most targeted industries for DDoS attacks

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