The financial sector in Asia-Pacific (APAC) experienced a notable increase in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in 2024, accounting for 38% of all global volumetric DDoS activity, according to new research released by the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) and Akamai Technologies.
The joint publication, “From Nuisance to Strategic Threat: DDoS Attacks Against the Financial Sector,” highlighted a threefold increase in regional attacks compared to 2023, when the APAC financial sector represented just 11% of such activity.
The findings suggest a shift toward more focused, high-impact cyber campaigns against banks, insurers, and financial technology platforms.
The research revealed that over 20 institutions across six countries in the APAC region were affected by an apparent coordinated DDoS campaign.
Analysts believe the operation may have originated from a single threat group employing advanced tactics to probe and disrupt financial services infrastructure.
Teresa Walsh, FS-ISAC’s chief intelligence officer, emphasised that DDoS attacks are no longer merely technical nuisances.
“DDoS attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, evolving from simple network flooding to targeted, multi-dimensional assaults that exploit intricate vulnerabilities across the entire supply chain,” she said. “As threat tactics continue to evolve, we must ensure our technical defences evolve and our people, tools, and processes work seamlessly together. It is critical that we harden our infrastructure and foster a culture of continuous vigilance and collaboration to protect continuity and customer trust.”
According to Akamai, DDoS techniques have evolved beyond traditional network flooding.
The 2024 data pointed to a 23% rise in application-layer attacks, which frequently target APIs and web portals. These systems support customer transactions and account access, making them attractive targets for attackers seeking to disrupt business continuity.
The study also emphasised the rising use of for-hire DDoS platforms, which allow threat actors to conceal their identity and motivations. These services, often sold on dark web marketplaces, increase the challenge of attribution and delay incident response efforts.
Cybercriminals are also leveraging higher computing power and bandwidth to scale their attacks more efficiently. The report noted a significant spike in activity during October 2024, coinciding with political unrest in various global regions.
Steve Winterfeld, advisory CISO at Akamai, commented that DDoS operations are increasingly designed to exhaust institutional defences. Proactive measures – ranging from hygiene practices to investment in mitigation tools – are essential for managing the ongoing risk.
The findings come as organisations report growing concern over reputational fallout from cyber incidents.
A recent global survey by Willis Towers Watson found that 65% of senior executives identified cyber threats as the top reputational risk – a rise from 52% the previous year. Environmental and governance-related concerns followed closely.
Despite these concerns, just 11% of respondents said their organisations could accurately model the financial impact of a reputational crisis, a sharp drop from prior years. Most firms, however, reported having designated crisis budgets and formal response protocols in place.
