CampaignPublished 11 Aug 2026

DDoS attacks over 1 Tbps surged fivefold in the second quarter

Source Bleeping Computer

Description

Cloudflare reported a significant surge in extremely large network-layer distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks exceeding 1 Tbps during the second quarter of 2026, with over 800 such attacks mitigated, a more than fivefold increase from the previous quarter. The company also mitigated a record-breaking 31.4 Tbps attack attributed to the Aisuru/Kimwolf botnet. Overall DDoS activity increased substantially in both network-layer attacks and malicious HTTP requests. Despite the rise in large-scale attacks, most incidents remained small and brief. Attack techniques shifted toward DNS-related and reflection/amplification methods. The Media, Production, and Publishing sectors were the most targeted for HTTP DDoS requests, with the government sector also seeing increased attacks linked to geopolitical events. Cloudflare attributes a decline in activity after April to an international crackdown on DDoS-for-hire services.

Impact

The surge in extremely large DDoS attacks poses increased risk of service disruption for targeted organizations, particularly in Media, Production, Publishing, and government sectors. The record-breaking attack volumes demonstrate the capability of botnets like Aisuru/Kimwolf to generate unprecedented traffic levels, potentially overwhelming unprotected infrastructure. The rise in DNS-related and amplification attacks indicates evolving attacker techniques that can amplify attack traffic. While most attacks remain small and short-lived, the increase in longer-duration attacks and large-scale floods could impact availability and operational continuity for victims.

Defensive guidance

Cloudflare provides mitigation for these large-scale DDoS attacks through its network infrastructure, absorbing and filtering malicious traffic. Organizations should consider deploying DDoS protection services similar to Cloudflare's to defend against high-volume attacks. The international law enforcement crackdown on DDoS-for-hire services has contributed to a reduction in attack volume, highlighting the importance of coordinated efforts against such services. No specific patches or fixes apply as this is an attack trend rather than a software vulnerability.

Summary

In the first half of 2026, Cloudflare mitigated 23.2 million network-layer DDoS attacks and 29.64 trillion malicious HTTP requests. Attacks exceeding 1 Tbps surged by 519% quarter-over-quarter, with over 800 such attacks mitigated in Q2 alone compared to 130 in Q1. A record 31.4 Tbps attack was mitigated, launched by the Aisuru/Kimwolf botnet. Smaller attacks remain the majority, with 96.62% under 50 Mbps and 90.6% lasting less than 10 minutes. DNS floods and amplification attacks increased significantly, with DNS floods accounting for 40% of network-layer attacks in Q2. CLDAP floods rose by 881.9%. The increase in attacks correlates with geopolitical tensions and hacktivism, particularly targeting government sectors. An international law enforcement operation disrupted DDoS-for-hire services, leading to arrests and domain takedowns, which Cloudflare links to a subsequent decline in attack volume after April.

References

bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ddos-attacks-over-1-tbps-surged-fivefold-in-the-second-quarter/ (opens in a new tab)

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Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 11 Aug 2026, 13:11 UTC

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