DDoS Attacks Target Top Three UK VoIP Providers

The Cloud Communications Alliance (CCA) states that DDoS has attacked at least three UK VoIP suppliers.

Recently, three of the top UK VoIP providers have been targeted by DDoS attacks. In a statement to Reuters, one of the attackers claimed that a client had hired them to take down the companies.

This is not surprising as cyberattacks on VoIP providers have been on the increase since last year. Security experts have found that many of these attacks are being carried out for political reasons.

This morning, in an email, CCA said that it has heard of a “sophisticated, precise, and ongoing attack” likely to be carried out by the Russian cybercriminal organization REvil. In December 2016, a Russian-based VoIP firm was targeted with a DDoS attack because it hosted a line for the Turkish president’s party. And this January, two additional top VoIP providers were taken down by cyberattacks for hosting bars with electioneers from Pakistan and Algeria, respectively.
Last week, two providers confirmed that they were victims of the attack, but CCA did not name the third.

The attack on its core network started on August 31 and was ongoing for 75 hours, according to Poole-based Voip Unlimited. This morning, an update from the company claimed that there was no additional attack during the weekend.

Voipfone, situated in London, declared its attack simultaneously and indicated that its services are entirely operating and traffic constantly monitored this morning.

During the three days, both companies saw their services affected.

CCA said the perpetrators demanded lettuce, beginning with 1 Bitcoin but escalating rapidly.

The assault consists of hammering a company’s network with traffic between 100 and 450 gigabits per second, usually several times for up to 24 hours. It begins with an IP address assault used for SIP input and input and subsequently migrates to additional services.

CCA claimed that the attack could avoid a few conventional mechanisms of DDoS mitigation.

The Director, Voip Unlimited, Mark Pillow, explained: “At 2 p.m. August 31, a prominent and sophisticated DDoS attack linked to an enormous demand for ransoms fell on VoIP Unlimited’s network.

“The United Kingdom Comms Council has informed us that other UK SIP providers are affected and identified as the criminal hacking organization called REvil which seems to undertake planned and organized operations against VoIP companies in Great Britain through DDoS.”

VoIP providers should be aware of this new trend.