Web DDoS attacks see major surge as AI allows more powerful attacks

• Layer 7 Web DDoS attacks are spiking, Radware report claims
• EMEA bore the brunt of Web DDoS attacks
• Financial institutions and transportation services suffered an almost 400% increase in DDoS attack volume

There was a noticeable increase in Web Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in 2024, largely thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI) lowering the barrier to entry, experts have claimed.

A report from cybersecurity experts Radware found Layer 7 Web DDoS attacks skyrocketed by 550% in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Layer 7 DDoS attacks are also known as application-layer DDoS attacks, and they target the application layer of the OSI model. Instead of overwhelming network bandwidth like traditional volumetric attacks, these attacks focus on exhausting server resources by mimicking legitimate user requests. They exploit vulnerabilities in web applications, APIs, and services by flooding them with HTTP requests, login attempts, or database queries, making it difficult to distinguish ...