2 days ago WISR survey findings reinforce impact of global DDoS extortion attack campaign WESTFORD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#DDoSAttackActivity—NETSCOUT SYSTEMS, INC., (NASDAQ: NTCT) today announced findings from its bi-annual Threat Intelligence Report, punctuated by a record-setting 10,089,687 Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks observed during 2020. Cybercriminals exploited vulnerabilities exposed by massive internet usage shifts since many users were no longer protected by enterprise-grade security. Attackers paid particular attention to vital pandemic industries such as e-commerce, streaming services, online learning, and healthcare generating a 20% year-over-year increase in attack frequency over 2019 plus a 22% increase in the last six months of 2020. In August, a threat actor NETSCOUT dubbed Lazarus Bear Armada (LBA) launched one of the most sustained and extensive DDoS extortion campaigns yet seen, taking down the New Zealand stock exchange and targeting organizations involved in COVID-19 testing and vaccine development.