The largest DDoS attack ever recorded reached a colossal 5.6 terabits per second (Tbps), originating from a Mirai-based botnet comprising 13,000 compromised devices.
The attack, which took place on October 29, 2024, targeted an internet service provider (ISP) in Eastern Asia.
This record-breaking event surpassed another high-profile attack earlier in October 2024, which peaked at 3.8 Tbps and briefly held the record for the largest volumetric assault.
Cloudflare’s latest analysis highlights a dramatic increase in hyper-volumetric DDoS attacks during the latter half of 2024. In Q4, attacks exceeding 1 Tbps rose by 1,885% quarter-over-quarter, with those surpassing 100 million packets per second (pps) growing by 175%. Alarmingly, 16% of high-intensity assaults went beyond 1 billion pps, showcasing the escalating scale of these cyber threats.
Despite the attention drawn by massive attacks, most incidents remained relatively smaller in scale. 93% of network-layer attacks were under 500 Mbps, and 87% did not exceed 50,000 pps. Similarly, most HTTP DDoS attacks peaked at fewer than 50,000 requests per second (rps).
Another worrying trend identified by Cloudflare is the decreasing duration of DDoS attacks. In Q4 2024, 72% of HTTP attacks and 91% of network-layer assaults ended within 10 minutes, making it nearly impossible for manual responses to be effective. On the other hand, only 22% of HTTP attacks and 2% of network-layer assaults lasted longer than an hour.
These short bursts of overwhelming traffic are strategically timed to coincide with high-traffic periods, such as holidays or major sales events, aiming for maximum disruption. The prevalence of ransom-driven DDoS attacks also spiked, with a 78% quarter-over-quarter increase and 25% year-over-year growth, peaking during the holiday season.
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Cloudflare’s data shows that China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Germany were the top targets for DDoS attacks in Q4 2024. The hardest-hit industries included telecommunications, internet services, and marketing sectors.
