Cybercriminals have found a new way to monetize their attacks without breaking into your systems. Instead of encrypting your data like traditional ransomware, they simply threaten to knock your services offline unless you pay the attackers. These ransom DDoS (RDDoS) attacks, also called “DDoS Extortion,” represent a growing threat that combines the disruptive power of distributed denial-of-service attacks with the profit motive of extortion.
Unlike ransomware attacks that require infiltrating your network and encrypting files, ransom DDoS attacks operate from the outside. Attackers flood your web properties with malicious traffic, overwhelming your servers and making your services unavailable to legitimate users. The financial impact can be immediate—every minute of downtime translates to lost revenue, damaged reputation, and frustrated customers.
What is Ransom DDoS?
A ransom distributed denial-of-service (RDDoS) attack occurs when cybercriminals threaten to launch or continue a DDoS attack against your organization unless you pay a ransom. These attacks target your web properties, networks, or online services with overwhelming traffic designed to make them unavailable to legitimate users.
The key difference between ransom DDoS and traditional ransomware lies in the attack method. Ransomware encrypts your internal systems and files, blocking access until payment is made. Ransom DDoS attacks, however, focus on external disruption—flooding your internet-facing services with traffic to knock them offline.
Attackers typically demand payment in cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin or Monero, to maintain anonymity and avoid detection by law enforcement. The ransom amounts vary significantly, with recent campaigns demanding anywhere from a few thousand dollars to millions, depending on the target’s size and perceived ability to pay.
How Does Ransom DDoS Happen?
Ransom DDoS attacks follow a predictable pattern that combines psychological pressure with technical assault. Understanding this process helps organizations recognize threats early and respond appropriately.
The Threat Phase
Most ransom DDoS campaigns begin with a threatening message sent via email. These ransom notes typically contain several key elements designed to create urgency and fear. Attackers often claim affiliation with well-known cybercriminal groups like Fancy Bear, Armada Collective, or Lazarus Group to lend credibility to their threats.
The ransom note usually specifies the attack capacity the criminals claim to possess—often boasting of multi-terabit attack capabilities. They set a deadline for payment and provide instructions for cryptocurrency transfer. Some attackers reference previous successful attacks to demonstrate their capabilities and increase pressure on the target.
Demonstration Attacks
Many ransom DDoS campaigns include a small-scale demonstration attack before sending the ransom note or immediately after. These limited attacks target specific elements of an organization’s online infrastructure to prove the threat is real. The demonstration might last only minutes or hours but serves as a powerful psychological tool to convince victims that larger attacks will follow.
During this phase, attackers often conduct reconnaissance to identify vulnerable points in the target’s infrastructure. They probe for inadequately protected applications, services, and network entry points that could be exploited in larger attacks.
The Main Attack
If payment demands are not met, attackers launch the full-scale DDoS assault. These attacks can utilize various vectors, including DNS reflection, NTP amplification, SYN floods, and UDP floods. Modern ransom DDoS attacks often employ multiple vectors simultaneously, making them harder to defend against.
The attack traffic overwhelms the targeted services, causing them to slow significantly or crash entirely. Legitimate users cannot access the affected websites, applications, or services, resulting in immediate business disruption.
Escalation and Persistence
Attackers may continue their campaigns for days or weeks, adjusting their tactics based on the target’s response. If initial attacks are successfully mitigated, criminals often increase attack intensity or shift to different vectors. Some groups increase ransom demands over time, adding financial pressure to the technical disruption.
Examples of Ransom DDoS Attacks
The threat landscape has evolved significantly since the first major ransom DDoS campaigns. Understanding historical and recent examples provides insight into how these attacks have grown in sophistication and scale.
Early Campaigns (2014-2015)
The cybercriminal organization DDoS for Bitcoin (DD4BC) conducted some of the first large-scale ransom DDoS attacks in 2014. These early campaigns targeted online gambling sites and Bitcoin exchanges, demonstrating the financial potential of this attack method.
In 2015, the Armada Collective gained notoriety by targeting encrypted email providers ProtonMail and Hushmail. The ProtonMail attack, which occurred in November 2015, represents one of the first high-profile ransom DDoS incidents to receive widespread media coverage. The attack forced ProtonMail offline and highlighted the vulnerability of even security-focused services.
Modern Sophisticated Campaigns (2017-Present)
By 2017, ransom DDoS tactics reached new levels of sophistication with the widespread use of botnets and amplification techniques. Attackers began leveraging compromised Internet of Things (IoT) devices and exploiting network protocols to amplify attack traffic.
The 2020-2021 global ransom DDoS campaign marked a significant escalation in both scale and targeting. Thousands of organizations across multiple sectors received ransom demands from groups claiming to be Fancy Bear, Armada Collective, or Lazarus Group. Initial demands typically started at 20 Bitcoin (worth hundreds of thousands of dollars at the time), with threats of attacks reaching 200 Gbps or higher.
Notable Recent Incidents
A VoIP provider faced a devastating attack in 2021 when threat actors demanded $4.2 million to stop a sustained DDoS assault. The attack disrupted telecommunications services for thousands of customers and demonstrated how ransom DDoS attacks could impact critical infrastructure. Another VoIP provider experienced a similar fate, suffering sustained attacks believed to originate from the REvil ransomware group. These telecommunications-focused attacks highlighted how ransom DDoS criminals were expanding beyond traditional web-based targets.
Target Diversity
While gaming networks and financial institutions historically represented the most common targets, recent trends show broader industry targeting. E-commerce platforms, online services, healthcare organizations, and critical infrastructure providers now regularly appear on attackers’ target lists. This expansion reflects both the universal dependence on online services and the proven profitability of ransom DDoS attacks.
How Ransom DDoS Impacts Your Business
The business impact of ransom DDoS attacks extends far beyond the immediate technical disruption. Organizations face multiple interconnected consequences that can persist long after the attack ends.
Immediate Financial Losses
Every minute of downtime translates directly to lost revenue. E-commerce sites lose sales, SaaS platforms lose user productivity, and service providers cannot deliver to customers. For businesses operating on thin margins or during critical sales periods, even brief outages can cause significant financial damage.
The 2020-2021 global ransom DDoS campaigns demonstrated attack durations ranging from hours to several weeks. Organizations facing extended outages reported revenue losses in the millions, particularly when attacks occurred during peak business periods.
Operational Disruption
Beyond customer-facing services, ransom DDoS attacks can disrupt internal operations. Attacks targeting DNS infrastructure can prevent employees from accessing cloud applications, email systems, and collaboration tools. Remote workers become particularly vulnerable when attacks target VPN endpoints or remote access services.
Supply chain partners may also experience secondary impacts when their systems cannot communicate with affected organizations. This ripple effect can amplify the business disruption beyond the immediate target.
Reputation and Trust Damage
Customers expect reliable service availability. Extended outages, especially when publicly attributed to cyberattacks, can permanently damage customer relationships and brand reputation. Social media amplifies customer frustration, potentially reaching audiences far beyond the affected user base.
The security implications of successful attacks also concern customers. Organizations that appear vulnerable to one type of cyber threat may be perceived as inadequately protected against others, leading to customer defection and difficulty acquiring new business.
Long-term Strategic Consequences
Organizations that pay ransoms become attractive targets for future attacks. Successful extortion validates the attack method and provides criminals with funding for enhanced capabilities. Payment also signals to other criminal groups that the organization represents a profitable target.
Conversely, organizations that refuse to pay but lack adequate defenses may face repeated attacks from the same or different groups. The criminal ecosystem shares information about vulnerable targets, potentially leading to sustained harassment campaigns.
Preventing Ransom DDoS Attacks
Effective ransom DDoS protection requires a comprehensive approach combining technical defenses, operational procedures, and strategic planning. Organizations cannot afford to wait until they receive ransom demands to implement protective measures.
Use a DDoS Mitigation Service
The most critical defense against ransom DDoS attacks is a comprehensive DDoS mitigation solution. Modern DDoS mitigation services must handle multi-vector attacks at various network layers, including:
Layer 3/4 Protection: Defenses against volumetric attacks targeting network and transport layers, including SYN floods, UDP floods, and ICMP attacks. These attacks attempt to overwhelm network infrastructure capacity.
Layer 7 Protection: Application-layer defenses that distinguish between legitimate and malicious HTTP/HTTPS traffic. These more sophisticated attacks target specific application vulnerabilities and can be harder to detect.
Always-On vs. On-Demand Services: Always-on protection continuously monitors traffic and automatically activates mitigation when attacks are detected. On-demand services require manual activation but may offer cost advantages for organizations with lower risk profiles.
Implement Network Architecture Best Practices
Proper network design significantly improves DDoS resilience. Organizations should separate internet traffic to public-facing services from internal user internet access using different upstream providers. This segmentation prevents attacks on public services from disrupting internal operations.
Critical supporting services, particularly authoritative DNS servers, require special attention. These services should be distributed across multiple providers and geographic locations to maintain availability during attacks. Consider using anycast DNS services that automatically route traffic away from attacked locations.
Develop Incident Response Procedures
Organizations must have predefined procedures for responding to ransom DDoS threats and attacks. These procedures should address:
Threat Assessment: Guidelines for evaluating the credibility of ransom demands without falling into the trap of negotiating with criminals.
Communication Plans: Internal communication procedures to ensure appropriate stakeholders are notified quickly. External communication strategies for customers, partners, and media if public disclosure becomes necessary.
Law Enforcement Coordination: Established relationships with appropriate law enforcement agencies, including local FBI field offices or national cybercrime units.
Technical Response: Clear escalation procedures for activating DDoS protections, engaging ISPs, and coordinating with security vendors.
Regular Testing and Validation
DDoS defenses require regular testing to ensure they remain effective as network infrastructure evolves. Organizations should conduct periodic simulated attacks to validate their protection capabilities and response procedures.
Testing should include various attack scenarios, from simple volumetric floods to sophisticated multi-vector campaigns. Pay particular attention to ensuring that changes in applications, services, or network architecture are properly incorporated into DDoS defense plans.
Employee Education and Awareness
Staff must understand how to recognize and respond to ransom DDoS threats. Employees who receive threatening emails should know not to respond to attackers and to immediately escalate to security teams.
Security awareness training should cover the differences between ransom DDoS and other cyber threats, helping employees understand why payment is counterproductive and how proper defenses provide better protection.
Building Long-term DDoS Resilience
Ransom DDoS attacks will continue to evolve, requiring organizations to treat DDoS protection as an ongoing security requirement, not a one-time deployment. Staying informed on emerging threats and adapting protection services is crucial, as criminals constantly develop new attack vectors and exploit vulnerabilities. Integrating DDoS protection into a broader cybersecurity strategy can deter not only extortion attacks but also other cybercrimes. Organizations must never pay ransom demands, as this fuels criminal operations and encourages future attacks. Instead, invest in robust protective measures to neutralize these threats. Proactive DDoS defense implementation before an attack occurs is more effective and less costly than reactive responses.
How DigiCert Can Help
UltraDDoS Protect is a comprehensive solution designed to safeguard organizations against the disruptive impact of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. This advanced protective service leverages real-time traffic monitoring, intelligent threat analysis, and rapid mitigation capabilities to ensure uninterrupted business operations. UltraDDoS Protect automatically identifies and neutralizes malicious traffic while allowing legitimate requests to flow without interruption. Easily scalable to meet the demands of enterprises of all sizes, this solution is tailored to provide high-performance security without compromising network speed or reliability. With UltraDDoS Protect, organizations gain an essential layer of defense as part of a holistic cybersecurity strategy, enabling business continuity and safeguarding critical resources.
To learn more about how UltraDDoS Protect can fortify your organization’s cybersecurity framework, contact us today. Our experts are ready to assist you in implementing a solution tailored to your specific needs.
