DDoS activity subsided in the second half of 2021, confirming NETSCOUT’s previous predictions. Prior to the development of the Omicron virus, countries began to emerge from lockdown restrictions, and people returned to in-person education, work, and social gatherings. In turn, DDoS activity dropped by 3% between July AND December 2021, compared to the first half of the year.

According to a 2021 survey by PwC, cybersecurity is a growing concern for organizations, with approximately 43% of Middle East CEOs planning to increase investments in cybersecurity and data privacy by 10% or more over the next three years. Moreover, 41% of these leaders think that their organization should be doing more to measure cybersecurity.

DDoS tools accounted for nearly half of all Linux malware detections during this time period, most likely as a result of automated attacks attempting to reinfect updated servers quickly and repeatedly.

Data collected from F5 Silverline – a cloud-based managed services platform that detects and mitigates DDoS attacks in real-time – revealed a 3% year-on-year decrease in the total volume of attacks recorded in 2021.

The report details how the second half of 2021 established high-powered botnet armies and rebalanced the scales between volumetric and direct-path (non-spoofed) attacks.