Threat of Ransom DDoS Attacks

A Ransom DDoS attack is a cyber threat where attackers flood a targeted server or network with overwhelming traffic, aiming to render it inaccessible. The attackers then demand a ransom, usually in cryptocurrency, to cease the attack. This form of cyber extortion has become increasingly common, posing significant risks to businesses and institutions.

Simplicity of Ransom DDoS

• Overwhelming Traffic: The attack involves bombarding a website or online service with excessive traffic, typically from a network of infected computers, known as a botnet.
• Business Pressure: Usually a company or a business might be pressured to stoppage of those overwhelming traffic attack because those attacks might block the company services like access of customers to internal dashboards, or hospital might lack access to patients data due to those attacks.
• Demand for Ransom: Following the disruption, attackers demand a ransom to stop the attack, putting organizations in a precarious position.

This approach is simple due to the fact that it can be very cost effective, attacker use large size of easily accessible computers/servers and use them to deny an important or crucial access to a service. besides the overwhelming traffic attack an business pressure, Time also plays a crucial role. The longer the attack occurs it’s more likely for the business to comply to the attack ransom demand. This is why for a good ISMS it’s important to be ready in advance and have the right tooling, services, or people in hand to combat those security vulnerabilities.

What can be Ransom DDoS?

There are variety of different customer based services that can be targeted by malicious 3rd party attacker. An attacker can submit overwhelming traffic to an access point of a company and deny real customers from accessing that business access point. therefore preventing normal business operations.

Customer-Oriented Service	Reason for Vulnerability to DDoS Attacks
Online Shopping Platforms	These platforms are primary targets for DDoS attacks due to their direct financial impact. An attack can disrupt the shopping experience, leading to lost sales and damaging the company’s reputation among consumers.
Customer Support Portals	These portals are crucial for customer service. DDoS attacks can overwhelm these systems, preventing customers from accessing support services, leading to frustration and potential loss of trust in the company.
Online Booking Systems	Used for reservations and appointments, these systems, when attacked, can result in service unavailability. This disrupts customers’ ability to make or manage bookings, impacting customer satisfaction and business revenue.
Mobile Banking and Financial Services	These services are critical for daily financial transactions. DDoS attacks can block access, preventing customers from managing their finances, leading to significant inconvenience and potential financial repercussions.
Cloud-Based Collaboration Tools	Widely used in remote work environments, these tools are essential for team collaboration. A DDoS attack can disrupt communication and workflow, significantly impacting productivity and business continuity.

Strategies Against Ransom DDoS

DDoS ransom attack pose a uniq security vulnerability to our organization or company services or digital assets. therefore we would want to take strategies against ransom DDoS attack in advance to prevent those cases of attacks. doing so in advance will completely change the effectiveness of those attacks. Here’s few ideas how to combat Ransom DDoS.

1. Risk Assessment and Management: Regularly conduct thorough risk assessments to identify and evaluate vulnerabilities that could be exploited in a Ransom DDoS attack. This includes assessing network infrastructure, applications, and services that could be potential targets. Implement risk management strategies to mitigate identified risks.
2. Robust Incident Response Plan: Develop and maintain a comprehensive incident response plan specifically tailored to address Ransom DDoS attacks. This plan should include clear procedures for detection, containment, eradication, and recovery, along with designated roles and responsibilities.
3. Network Segmentation and Resilience: Implement network segmentation to limit the spread and impact of DDoS attacks. Ensure that critical services have redundancy and failover mechanisms to maintain operational resilience in the event of an attack.
4. Regular Security Audits and Monitoring: Perform regular security audits to ensure that all systems are secure and compliant with the latest security standards. Utilize continuous monitoring tools to detect early signs of a DDoS attack, allowing for a quicker response.
5. Employee Training and Awareness: Conduct regular training sessions for employees to recognize the signs of a potential DDoS attack and understand the appropriate actions to take. Awareness can play a crucial role in the early detection and response to these attacks.

Difference between Regular to Ransom DDoS

There are few mild, Small difference between regular DDoS attack to a regular DDoS attack, Usually the outcome might be changes the objective, The why or the communication between the attacker to the victim. let’s take a look at objective of different attacks, the communications between the two parties, the duration of the attack, the financial impact and the legal implications.

Aspect	Regular DDoS Attack	Ransom DDoS Attack
Objective/What	Typically aims to disrupt service availability, often motivated by vandalism, competition, or as a form of protest. the target might be a “simple” service.	Specifically intended to extort money from the victim by threatening or launching a DDoS attack until a ransom is paid. The target might be a complicated, important sensitive access point or data.
Communication	Attackers usually do not notify the target in advance; the attack is often unexpected.	Victims are often notified beforehand with a ransom demand, threatening a DDoS attack if the demands are not met.
Duration	Can last until the attacker decides to stop or until the target mitigates the attack.	May continue until the ransom is paid, although payment does not guarantee the cessation of the attack.
Financial Impact	Financial impact is usually indirect, resulting from service downtime, loss of customer trust, etc.	Direct financial impact due to the ransom demand, in addition to the indirect costs of service disruption.
Legal Implications	Both types of attacks are illegal; however, regular DDoS attacks are typically pursued as criminal cyber activities.	Ransom DDoS attacks have the added element of extortion, which can complicate legal proceedings and involve different law enforcement responses.

The main difference between the two attacks are the Objective/What hacker might attack and the way the attack chose to communicate or not communicate the attack what so ever. During a regular DDoS attack the malicious actor might not communicate the attack at all to the victim, the victim might never know what the source of the attack to begin with while in ransom DDoS attack it’s the malicious attacker interest to reveal themself (as little as possible) to receive the ransom.