As digital innovation accelerates, the scope and sophistication of cyber threats, especially Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, increases. Hypervolumetric DDoS attacks, which overwhelm systems with floods of traffic, are growing in both frequency and complexity. According to our survey, more than a third (37%) of European companies have experienced such an attack within the past year.
While disruptive in their own right, these attacks can also serve as a smokescreen for more targeted events, such as SQL injection attacks. While security teams deal with the immediate chaos of the DDoS attack, malicious actors can exploit unnoticed vulnerabilities.
Recently, Cloudflare repelled a record-breaking DDoS attack that peaked at 5.6 Tbps – the largest publicly disclosed attack ever. This followed a 3.6 Tbps attack earlier in the same campaign, which targeted industries such as finance, telecommunications and ISPs. The campaign spanned a full month and consisted of over 100 individual events, many of which exceeded 3 Tbps in volume.
For industries that rely on real-time operations, even brief downtime can cause significant financial and reputational damage. The stakes are high, and organizations that are not prepared face catastrophic consequences.
Christian Reilly
Social links navigation
Field CTO, EMEA, Cloudflare.
A global challenge in the IoT era
The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has introduced new vulnerabilities into enterprise environments. These devices often consist of security measures, including factory default usernames and passwords, while remaining constantly connected online. This creates the perfect environment for attackers to assemble botnets capable of launching large-scale, anonymous cyberattacks. Compounding the problem is the global distribution of these devices, making it harder to predict when or where the next attack will occur.
Recent attacks, such as the Mozi and HTTP/2 vulnerabilities, originated from compromised devices in countries including the United States, Russia, Brazil, and Vietnam. In these attacks, the botnet composed of hijacked routers, webcams and servers allowed attackers to attack from virtually anywhere. This global, decentralized nature of modern threats requires organizations to rethink and evolve their cyber security strategies.
Today’s attackers are increasingly mixing volumetric attacks with application-layer exploits, targeting specific system vulnerabilities. These multi-pronged tactics make detection and mitigation more complex, as different layers of an organization’s IT infrastructure can be attacked simultaneously. To meet these challenges, companies must take a comprehensive approach to security. Monitoring both network infrastructure and application layers is critical to identifying and addressing vulnerabilities before hackers can exploit them.
Defend against the evolving threat
Speed and precision are essential when identifying and mitigating today’s DDoS attacks. Automated systems powered by real-time machine learning and artificial intelligence have become indispensable. These technologies enable organizations to detect and neutralize threats, analyze traffic patterns and respond instantly without human intervention. This approach means organizations are able to prevent attacks before they even begin – strengthening their preventative security measures further than simply fighting them in real time.
Automation is an important tool, but it is only one piece of the puzzle. A truly effective defense requires a multi-layered security strategy that combines advanced traffic filtering, real-time analytics and actionable threat intelligence. These systems work together to separate legitimate traffic from malicious activity, allowing businesses to maintain continuity without compromising performance, reliability or security. It is also important for organizations to regularly review and test their incident response plans to ensure that teams are well prepared for real-world scenarios.
A global, high-capacity, anycast network is another powerful tool in the fight against high-volume attacks. By spreading traffic across multiple data centers worldwide, this approach ensures that no single location bears the brunt of an attack, minimizing downtime and maintaining service continuity. For example, a connectivity cloud can absorb and reroute massive traffic surges through its distributed infrastructure, providing seamless, scalable protection against even the largest DDoS campaigns.
Cloud computing services also play a crucial role, acting as a buffer to absorb the impact of large-scale attacks that traditional on-premises systems cannot handle. However, organizations must carefully evaluate their providers’ DDoS protection capabilities to ensure they can withstand the escalating scale of threats.
Building a resilient future
The threat of hypervolumetric DDoS attacks is not going away. Almost two-thirds (64%) of European business and technology leaders believe a cyber security incident is likely within the next year, reflecting growing concern over the changing threat landscape.
By leveraging global infrastructure, automating defenses and layering security strategies, organizations can build the resilience needed to meet these challenges. Equally important is fostering a culture of security awareness and staying abreast of emerging threats.
Cyber resilience against DDoS attacks will be a defining feature of successful organizations in the coming years. By employing advanced tools, embracing Zero-Trust strategies, and continuously refining their cybersecurity posture, companies can protect their systems and adapt to an ever-changing threat landscape.
We have compiled a list of the best network monitoring tools.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel, where we feature the best and brightest minds in the tech industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing, you can read more here:
