Russia’s internet regulator says DDoS attacks hit record levels in February and March, surging after reports of Telegram ban

Russia’s internet regulator Roskomnadzor announced that it recorded a record surge in DDoS attacks in February and March.

Analysts at the Public Communications Network Monitoring and Management Center, which operates under Roskomnadzor, found a direct link between the news cycle and the intensity of cyberattacks, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

“After media reports appeared about a possible full restriction on Telegram, the load on Roskomnadzor’s resources grew dozens of times over,” the agency stated.

Under normal conditions, the agency’s systems register an average of 350 attacks per week, about 23 of which target Roskomnadzor itself. During the peak period — February 26 through March 4 — the total number of attacks rose to 949, the Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing Roskomnadzor.

Telecommunications companies and hosting providers were the most frequent targets, with government resources ranking third, TASS cited Roskomnadzor as saying.

The agency stated that despite the sharp increase in load, the National DDoS Attack Countermeasures System had confirmed its status as the primary tool for protecting Russia’s digital infrastructure.

On February 10, the Russian business news outlet RBC reported, citing sources, that the authorities had decided to begin throttling Telegram in Russia. On February 17, the Russian security services-linked Telegram channel Baza reported, citing its own sources, that Telegram would be fully blocked in Russia starting April 1. By March, the app had stopped working for many Russian users unless they used circumvention tools.