New research from NetScout Systems Inc. details a rapid rise in politically motivated online attacks across the private, nonprofit and government sectors.

The “Dawn of the TerrorBit Era” report looked at security data in the second half of 2018 and came up with some surprising finds as nation-state actors ramp up campaigns.

In particular, the report found that malicious actors are increasingly targeting market research and opinion polling companies. Staggeringly, recorded attacks targeting companies in the sector rose 10,000 percent the second half of 2017 and 2018, with the researchers noting that the increased interest may have been connected to the U.S. midterm elections.

Distributed denial-of-service attacks against international bodies such as the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund, as well as the U.S. State Department, rose 200 percent between the second half of 2017 and 2018.

The report notes that those attacks reflect ongoing campaign of advanced persistent threat groups that primarily are state sponsored.

The NetScout researchers say they are now monitoring the activities of at least 35 APT groups across countries including Iran, China, Russia and North Korea. The groups are said to be employing new techniques such as combining custom-made tools with commodity “crimeware” to extend their reach and impact.

“It might be fair to say that politically motivated attacks against governments are to be expected,” Mike McNerney, product manager at NetScout Threat Intelligence, told SiliconANGLE. “However, the growing number of attacks against organizations involved in market research and opinion polling suggests that nation state-backed groups could be involved in the manipulation of elections and reported interference into the political process.”

He added that the data the company is seeing indicates that large DDoS attacks from nation-states tend to coincide with geopolitical events.

“Governments and organizations need to be aware that attackers are adopting new methods to disrupt and interfere with domestic and international affairs,” McNerney added. “Closer collaboration between governments and businesses will help to neutralize the threat and prevent attacks on national institutions.”

Image: NetScout