According to the telecom giant’s 2024 Threat Intelligence Report, cybercriminals are using AI and automation to increase the speed, volume and sophistication of attacks.
As a result, the research found that the number and frequency of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have increased from a maximum of two per day to over 100 per day in many networks.
The growth in DDoS attacks is driven by insecure IoT devices, such as smart refrigerators and smartwatches, with weak security protections, the data stated.
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Botnets are responsible for about 60% of DDoS traffic from June 2023 to June 2024, with residential proxies now being used in advanced application-layer attacks.
It also found the most common malware in telecommunication networks is a bot that scans for vulnerable devices with weak encryption, passwords, or design flaws.
Meanwhile, the data revealed that cybercriminals also increasingly target SoCs to exploit vulnerabilities in firmware, software, and hardware interfaces.
It also found North America accounts for one-third of all cyberattacks due to its concentrated telecom infrastructure and large enterprises, with East Asia facing significant data leaks due to corporate exposure.
Nokia head of security, cloud and network services, Rodrigo Brito, said: “The use of Generative AI and automation for nefarious purposes is leading to a stepwise increase in malicious actors’ capabilities and threat potential.
“The Threat Intelligence findings further reinforce the need for operators, vendors, and regulators to work more collaboratively to develop more robust network security measures, practices, and awareness.”
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