What is the impact of the Internet of Things on distributed denial-of-service attacks?
No cyber attack is any more ideal or less of an inconvenience than another; in other words, companies don’t exactly have a preference on which attack they are struck by – each threat is as disruptive and frustrating as the next. However, I don’t think it’d be totally absurd to suggest that distributed denial-of-service attacks are among the very worst threats in today’s landscape.
This can be attributed to a number of things. Firstly, it’s the kind of threat that embroils all business processes on the company network. For many organisations, this means the entire business comes to a halt when struck. Unfortunately, downtime can cause significant long-term damage for any brand, particularly in time, money, and reputation. Thus, in the threat portfolio, DDoS is one that requires special attention so as to not have your business run into the ground by a malicious actor.
Worse still, the DDoS attack growth rate is alarming. Worryingly, in 2019, more companies succumbed to the threat than ever. Fuelling it is the fact that DDoS attacks are relatively cheap to carry out, with the potential for great return.
However, another factor making DDoS increasingly ubiquitous is the Internet of Things (IoT). Industries globally are taking great strides in adopting IoT, creating a more connected environment in every arena. As a result, we will enjoy improved communication, better device monitoring, more insight into our wellness, and much more.
While efforts for a more IoT-enabled future will continue, the surge in connected devices will widen the attack surface beyond comprehension. In turn, IoT creates a hotbed for DDoS to thrive.
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