In 2023, the landscape of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) incidents in Russia showed a notable shift. The number of Russian companies experiencing DDoS activity rose by about 40 percent, while the total tally of DDoS attacks dipped by roughly one third to 306 thousand incidents. This shift also reflected a more even distribution of attacks across different sectors, according to Alexey Pashkov, who oversees WAF and Anti-DDoS operations within the Solar group of companies.
Looking more closely at the monthly pattern, 2023 saw a stabilization in the spread of attacks per organization. The monthly counts ranged from roughly 50 to 120 incidents per organization, a contrast to 2022 when the range spanned from about 118 up to 685 attacks each month. The sectoral mix of targets also evolved: while logistics, telecommunications, and medicine were the most frequently targeted in 2022, 2023 saw telecom, informatics, and logistics occupying the top spots in terms of attack frequency. This shift suggests attackers recalibrated their focus across industries in response to changing exposure and defense postures.
Experts note that telecom operators remain particularly exposed to high-intensity DDoS campaigns. The disruption of a telecom operator’s networks can ripple outward, impacting not only the operator’s commercial operations but also the activities of customers, including both individuals and organizations. The IT sector also faced rising risks, as many IT firms now host cloud services. When cloud resources are temporarily unavailable, customer business processes can experience immediate and measurable impacts, making these entities valuable targets for adversaries.
The Solar statistics team observed a striking tightening of how long a DDoS assault lasts. In 2022, the average duration hovered around 19 days; in 2023, it collapsed to just over a single day on average. By contrast, the intensity of the attacks—the average power—held steady, showing only minor fluctuations. Signaling the most extreme events of the year, the top attack reached 1,000 Gbit/s (1 Tbit/s) and the single longest episode stretched to 278 days, equivalent to about nine months. In comparison, the previous year featured a maximum of 768 Gbit/s and a longest attack of 83 days (about 2.7 months). Taken together, 2023 stood out as a remarkable anomaly in the DDoS arena, marked by these record-breaking bursts and a significant reduction in typical attack durations.
Additionally, the year brought heightened awareness of a new fraud scheme tied to SBP, underscoring that cybercrime trends continue to rotate rapidly and that vigilance must adapt to evolving tactics. Organizations across sectors are advised to maintain robust DDoS defenses, monitor traffic patterns continuously, and prepare rapid incident response playbooks to mitigate both the frequency and impact of such campaigns. The evolving threat landscape in Russia during 2023 highlights the need for layered security, proactive threat intelligence, and cloud-resilience strategies to safeguard essential services and business continuity. (Attribution: Solar group of companies, WAF and Anti-DDoS division.)
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