Introduction
Cloudflare, a major web infrastructure and security firm, has reported a substantial surge in DDoS attacks over 1 Tbps in the second quarter of the year. The company mitigated more than 800 network-layer DDoS attacks exceeding 1 Tbps, marking a more than fivefold increase from the 130 attacks recorded in the first quarter. This report highlights the growing threat posed by DDoS attacks, particularly those exceeding 1 Tbps.
DDoS Attack Mitigation
Cloudflare's services sit between DDoS botnets and their intended targets, allowing it to observe and absorb attacks at enormous scale. In the second quarter, the company mitigated a record-breaking attack that peaked at 31.4 Tbps and 200 million requests per second, launched by the Aisuru/Kimwolf botnet.
Attack Volume and Trends
In the first half of the year, Cloudflare mitigated 23.2 million network-layer DDoS attacks and 29.64 trillion malicious HTTP requests. The most significant increase was observed in extremely large network-layer attacks exceeding 1 Tbps, which rose 519% quarter over quarter. However, the company also noted an overall jump in less severe attacks, with those between 500 Gbps and 1 Tbps increasing by 143%, and those between 100 and 500 Gbps rising 105%.
Attack Characteristics
Despite the growth in very large attacks, most incidents remained comparatively small and brief. 96.62% of network-layer attacks remained below 50 Mbps, and 90.6% ended within 10 minutes. Some attacks lasting more than three hours increased slightly from 0.387% in Q1 to 0.828% in Q2 2026.
Attack Types and Targets
DDoS attacks at the network-layer rose from 10.04 million to 13.17 million, a 31.2% increase, while malicious HTTP request volume grew from 12.75 trillion to 16.89 trillion, up by 32.4%. Among the trends emerging in the last quarter, Cloudflare saw that attacks shifted toward DNS-related and reflection/amplification techniques. DNS floods accounted for 40% in Q2, up from 25.7% in Q1. CLDAP floods increased 881.9% quarter-over-quarter, and UDP floods ranked second at 14.06%.
Conclusion
Cloudflare's report underscores the growing threat of DDoS attacks, particularly those exceeding 1 Tbps. The company's services play a crucial role in mitigating these attacks, highlighting the importance of robust security measures in today's digital landscape. The company's insights into attack types and targets provide valuable information for organizations looking to fortify their defenses against DDoS attacks.