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Increased Frequency and Sophistication of DDoS Attacks

Cloudflare has observed a significant rise in the frequency and sophistication of DDoS attacks in recent quarters. Here are some key points from the latest reports:

  • Year-over-Year Increase: In 2024, Cloudflare mitigated around 21.3 million DDoS attacks, representing a 53% increase compared to 2023. This includes a 20% year-over-year increase in DDoS attacks as reported in the Q2 2024 DDoS Threat Report34.
  • Quarterly Trends: In the fourth quarter of 2024, Cloudflare mitigated 6.9 million DDoS attacks, a 16% increase quarter-over-quarter and an 83% increase year-over-year4.

5.6 Tbps DDoS Attack Response

One of the most notable incidents in recent times is the mitigation of a record-breaking 5.6 Terabit per second (Tbps) DDoS attack:

  • Largest Reported Attack: During the week of Halloween 2024, Cloudflare’s autonomous DDoS defense systems successfully detected and blocked a 5.6 Tbps DDoS attack, which is the largest attack ever reported4.
  • Hyper-Volumetric Attacks: The fourth quarter of 2024 saw a significant increase in hyper-volumetric attacks, with over 420 attacks exceeding rates of 1 billion packets per second (pps) and 1 Tbps. The number of attacks exceeding 1 Tbps grew by 1,885% quarter-over-quarter4.

Cybersecurity Incident Response

Cloudflare’s approach to mitigating DDoS attacks involves several key strategies:

  • Automated Defenses: Cloudflare’s automated DDoS defense systems generate real-time fingerprints to counter and mitigate sophisticated DDoS attacks. In Q2 2024, these systems generated 19 million fingerprints to deal with randomized HTTP DDoS attacks, significantly more than the normalized figure of 1.8 million attacks3.
  • Layer-Specific Mitigation:
    • Layer 3/Layer 4: Mitigation involves rate limiting, blackholing, and other network-layer defenses. SYN flood attacks, DNS flood attacks, and UDP floods were among the top attack vectors in this layer34.
    • Layer 7: Defending against HTTP DDoS attacks requires advanced solutions that can monitor and analyze traffic to distinguish between bot and human requests. Cloudflare’s systems mitigated half of all HTTP DDoS attacks using proprietary heuristics targeting known botnets34.
  • Bot Management: Implementing sophisticated bot management solutions is crucial for preventing layer 7 DDoS attacks. These solutions can analyze traffic and block bots before they connect, as highlighted in the context of DataDome’s bot management solution1.

Ransom DDoS Attacks

There has been an increase in ransom DDoS attacks, where threat actors threaten to launch a DDoS attack unless a ransom is paid:

  • Ransom DDoS Trends: In May 2024, 16% of Cloudflare customers reported being threatened by a DDoS attack or subjected to a ransom DDoS attack, the highest in the past 12 months. This trend has been increasing quarter-over-quarter throughout the past year3.

Global Infrastructure and Mitigation Capabilities

Cloudflare’s extensive global network and infrastructure play a critical role in its ability to mitigate DDoS attacks:

  • Network Capacity: Cloudflare’s network capacity has grown significantly, from 35 Tbps in 2020 to 321 Tbps by the end of 2024. This network serves and protects nearly 20% of all websites and close to 18,000 unique Cloudflare customer IP networks4.
  • Global Presence: Cloudflare has expanded its global presence from 200 cities in 2020 to 330 cities by the end of 2024, providing a unique vantage point to observe and mitigate DDoS attacks globally4.

Conclusion

Cloudflare continues to be at the forefront of DDoS attack mitigation, leveraging its extensive network, automated defenses, and advanced heuristics to protect against increasingly sophisticated and volumetric attacks. The recent mitigation of a 5.6 Tbps DDoS attack and the ongoing trends in ransom DDoS attacks highlight the importance of robust cybersecurity measures in today's digital landscape.

For more detailed insights, you can refer to Cloudflare's DDoS Threat Reports and their Learning Center resources:

  • [Cloudflare DDoS Threat Report for 2024 Q2]3
  • [Cloudflare DDoS Threat Report for 2024 Q4]4
  • [Cloudflare Learning Center]4