A recent report from Qrator Labs, a leading provider of DDoS attack mitigation solutions, reveals a dramatic increase in cyber threats globally in 2024. The number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks surged by 53% compared to 2023. The most heavily impacted sectors include “Fintech” (25.8%) and “E-commerce” (20.5%), which are significant for the UAE.
Fintech, for instance, is one of the fastest-growing industries in the country. Last year, there were 329 active fintech companies, representing a 128.5% increase from the 144 companies in 2021. In terms of e-commerce, the UAE ranks 45th globally regarding market size, with revenue poised to reach US$6.721 billion by 2024, according to insights released by ECDB, a specialised e-commerce data analytics company. Overall, the number of attacks on various sectors in the UAE is growing. For example, in Q2 of 2024, the UAE experienced an average of 1,546 weekly attacks per organisation, which represents an 18% increase compared to Q2 of 2023.
The largest L3-L4 DDoS attack recorded by Qrator Labs in 2024 targeted the “Media, TV, radio, bloggers” microsegment, reaching an unprecedented peak of 1.14 Tbps (1140 Gbps)—a dramatic increase over the 2023 record of 690 Gbps. Other major attacks included those against betting shops (882 Gbps) and online retail (706 Gbps), both far exceeding last year’s peak record. Additionally, four other significant attacks were recorded, each surpassing 300 Gbps: “Banks” (317 Gbps), “Hosting platforms” (313 Gbps), “Forex” (311 Gbps), and “Payment systems” (300 Gbps).
On the application layer (L7), over half (52%) of all attacks in 2024 targeted the “Fintech” sector too. Within this segment, the “Banks” microsegment faced nearly a third (31.9%) of these incidents. “E-commerce” accounted for 18% of the total application-level attacks, with “Online retail” ranking second among microsegments at 10%.
Bot activity also climbed sharply in 2024 around the globe, with the average monthly bot activity increasing by 30% compared to 2023. Qrator Labs reported blocking an average of 1.69 billion bot requests per month this year, up from 1.3 billion in 2023. The “Online retail” segment was the most targeted, accounting for 36.2% of all bot activity, followed by “Betting” (16%), “Pharma” (7.3%), “Real estate” (5.1%), and “Banks” (1%). Together, these five segments represented nearly two-thirds of all bot attacks in 2024. Among the bot types, script bots made up the majority (67.5%), followed by API bots (27.1%) and browser bots (5.4%).
Andrey Leskin, the CTO of Qrator Labs, predicts that bot attacks targeting the online retail sector will continue to grow in 2025. “The online retail segment is increasingly becoming an attractive target for cybercriminals due to its rapid expansion,” he noted. This growth is fuelled by the global rise of the e-commerce industry. A recent study by Forrester estimates that e-commerce will grow from US$4.4 trillion in 2023 to US$6.8 trillion by 2028, accounting for 24% of global retail sales. In particular, the e-commerce market in the UAE is expected to see a significant spike, reaching US$17 billion by 2025.
