CLOUDFLARE BLOCKS RECORD 11.5 TBPS DDOS ATTACK - Largest in Internet History
In a dramatic demonstration of the escalating scale of cyber threats, Cloudflare has announced it mitigated a record-breaking 11.5 terabits per second (Tbps) Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. The "hyper-volumetric" attack, the largest in internet history, was detected and neutralized in just 35 seconds, preventing any significant disruption to the targeted financial services company.
This incident shatters the previous record of 7.3 Tbps, also mitigated by Cloudflare in May 2025, representing a staggering 58% increase in attack volume in just four months. This exponential growth underscores the rapid evolution of botnets and the increasing availability of powerful tools for launching massive-scale attacks.
The Evolution of Hyper-Volumetric Attacks
The scale of DDoS attacks has grown exponentially over the past decade. What was once considered a massive attack is now dwarfed by modern capabilities.
| Year | Peak Attack Size (Tbps) | Key Attack Method |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1.0 | Mirai Botnet (IoT Devices) cloudflare |
| 2018 | 1.3 | Memcached Amplification a10networks |
| 2020 | 2.3 | CLDAP Reflection (AWS) cioandleader |
| 2021 | 3.47 | UDP Flood (Microsoft Azure) cloudflare |
| May 2025 | 7.3 | HTTP/2 Rapid Reset |
| Sept 2025 | 11.5 | Multi-vector (UDP/ICMP/DNS) |
The Smoke Screen Concern: Hiding Theft Behind the Noise
While the primary goal of a DDoS attack is to overwhelm a target and knock it offline, security experts are increasingly concerned about their use as a "smoke screen" for more sophisticated intrusions.
A hyper-volumetric attack like this one can consume the full attention and resources of a company's security team. While they are scrambling to mitigate the flood of traffic and keep their services online, attackers can use the distraction to:
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Infiltrate the Network: Launch secondary, more targeted attacks to gain a foothold in the corporate network.
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Exfiltrate Data: Steal sensitive data, such as customer information, intellectual property, or financial records.
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Deploy Malware: Install ransomware or other malicious software for future exploitation.
The sheer scale of an 11.5 Tbps attack provides the perfect cover for these more insidious activities. It forces defenders to focus on the immediate, visible threat, while the real damage is done quietly in the background.
The Arms Race Continues
This record-breaking attack is a clear signal that the arms race between attackers and defenders is accelerating. As botnets grow larger and attack methods become more sophisticated, the ability to automatically detect and mitigate these threats in seconds is no longer a luxury—it is a necessity for any organization with a significant online presence.
Cloudflare's successful mitigation of this attack demonstrates the power of modern, automated DDoS protection systems. However, it also serves as a stark warning to the entire industry: the era of the 10+ Tbps DDoS attack has arrived, and organizations must be prepared for attacks of this magnitude to become the new normal.
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