{"id":20278,"date":"2021-02-17T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saudishopper.com.sa\/en\/?p=20278"},"modified":"2026-03-27T20:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T17:30:23","slug":"a-matter-of-profit-ddos-attacks-in-q4-2020-dropped-by-a-third-compared-to-q3-as-crypto-mining-is-on-the-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saudishopper.com.sa\/en\/a-matter-of-profit-ddos-attacks-in-q4-2020-dropped-by-a-third-compared-to-q3-as-crypto-mining-is-on-the-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"A matter of profit: DDoS attacks in Q4 2020 dropped by a third compared to Q3, as crypto mining is on the rise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The number of DDoS attacks detected by Kaspersky DDoS Prevention in Q4 2020 increased slightly compared to 2019. However, it is 31% less compared to Q3 2020. This drop can be connected to the growing interest in cryptocurrency mining.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As people began to\u00a0spend more time online<\/a>\u00a0in 2020, it resulted in a boom of DDoS attacks. And in the fourth quarter, attacks on educational institutions continued:\u00a0several schools in Massachusetts<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Laurentian University<\/a>\u00a0in Canada experienced such incidents.\u00a0Online gaming services<\/a>\u00a0also suffered DDoS attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in Q4 2020 there were only 10% more attacks than in Q4 2019. And compared to Q3 2020, the number of attacks in Q4 2020 fell by 31%, while Q3 2020 also saw a\u00a0drop<\/a>\u00a0compared to Q2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts suggest that a surge in cryptocurrency<\/a> costs can cause this. As a result, cybercriminals may have had to \u2018re-profile some botnets so that C&C servers, which are typically used in DDoS attacks, could repurpose infected devices and use their computing power to mine cryptocurrencies instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is further proved by KSN statistics[1]<\/sup><\/a>. Throughout 2019, as well as at the beginning of 2020, the number of crypto miners dropped. However, from August 2020, the trend changed, with the amount of malware increasing slightly and reaching a plateau in Q4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe DDoS attack market is currently affected by two opposite trends. On the one hand, people still highly rely on stable work of online resources, making DDoS attacks a common choice for malefactors. However, with a spike in cryptocurrency prices, it may be more profitable to infect some devices with miners. As a result, we see that the total number of DDoS attacks in Q4 remained quite stable. And we can predict that this trend will continue in 2021,\u201d comments Alexey Kiselev, Business Development Manager on the Kaspersky DDoS Protection team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To stay protected against DDoS attacks, Kaspersky experts offer the following recommendations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n