According to FBI, the DDOS attacks by hacktivists have a very insignificant impact on the subject services. As experts explain, this is because hactivists are aimed at open infrastructure (websites, for example), and not at important services, which only partially stops the work of target companies.
“These attacks, as a rule, are opportunistic and, thanks to measures to mitigate the consequences of DDOS attacks, have a minimal effect on the victims. However, hactivists often betray their attacks and exaggerate their seriousness on social networks. As a result, the psychological impact of DDOS- attacks are often stronger than real damage, ”the department said.
As experts say, such groups are usually aimed at organizations with a high reputation or critical infrastructure, such as financial institutions, emergency care services, airports, government, medical and healthcare institutions.
Stopping the work of their websites, hacktivists seek to increase their authority and deceive users in social networks, arguing that the consequences of their attacks are much more serious than in fact.
One of these examples was recent attacks on the sites of American airports. Attacks violated access to sites informing about the workload and waiting time at airports. However, the actions of hackers did not affect the air traffic control, transport safety and communication lines with aircraft.