Akamai Technologies Inc., in collaboration with FS-ISAC, has released an annual report analyzing the strategic threat posed by the rising number and sophistication of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on the financial services sector. The report highlights the financial industry as the primary target for volumetric DDoS attacks, with a notable increase in precision-targeted threats. These attacks aim to exhaust network infrastructure and deplete resources defending against them, which significantly impacts customer trust, operations, and profitability. The report emphasizes the importance of robust mitigation strategies, cyber hygiene, and industry best practices to defend against these evolving threats. It also notes an increase in DDoS attacks in the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for 38% of all volumetric DDoS attacks. The report introduces a five-level DDoS Maturity Model to help financial institutions assess and improve their resilience against such attacks. Amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions, the report calls for advanced, adaptive defense strategies to address the growing sophistication of DDoS threats.