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DDoS attacks on Russian online retailers double in 2020

Online retail business has been in the focus of cyber criminals for several years, according to experts

© George Kopytin/TASS

MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/. The number of DDoS attacks on Russian online retailers nearly doubled in 2020 compared to the previous year, the Rostelecom-Solar cyber security company said in a statement.

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"Online retail business has been in the focus of cyber criminals for several years. However, as customer demand for online retail services grew amid coronavirus restrictions, they became even more attractive for hackers," the statement reads.

According to Rostelecom experts, 40% of cyber attacks were recorded in the fourth quarter of the year because of increasing customer demand ahead of the holiday season.

The daily damage caused by such attacks is estimated at about 600,000 rubles ($8,200) for big online retailers and up to 100,000 rubles ($1,300) for small ones, experts pointed out. According to analysts, the goal of DDoS attacks is usually to damage retailers’ reputation and extort money. "Sometimes DDoS attacks are carried out to distract the victim company’s security service from something more serious, including the theft of customer data," experts added.

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