Cloudflare has announced its 2023 Q3 DDoS report. This report includes insights and trends about the DDoS threat landscape — as observed across the global Cloudflare network, which is one of the largest in the world, spanning more than 300 cities in over 100 countries. Through this network the company serves over 64 million HTTP requests per second at peak and about 2.3 billion DNS queries every day. On average, it mitigates 140 billion cyber threats each day. This colossal amount of data gives Cloudflare a unique vantage point to understand the threat landscape and provide the community access to insightful and actionable DDoS trends.
In recent weeks, there was a surge in DDoS attacks and other cyber-attacks against Israeli newspaper and media websites, as well as financial institutions and government websites. Palestinian websites have also seen a significant increase in DDoS attacks. View the full coverage here.
The DDoS landscape: a look at global patterns
In the third quarter of 2023, Cloudflare faced one of the most sophisticated and persistent DDoS attack campaigns in recorded history.
- Cloudflare mitigated thousands of hyper-volumetric HTTP DDoS attacks, 89 of which exceeded 100 million requests per second (rps) and with the largest peaking at 201 million rps — a figure three times higher than the previous largest attack on record (71M rps).
- The campaign contributed to an overall increase of 65% in HTTP DDoS attack traffic in Q3 compared to the previous quarter. Similarly, L3/4 DDoS attacks also increased by 14%.
- Gaming and Gambling companies were bombarded with the largest volume of HTTP DDoS attack traffic, overtaking the Cryptocurrency industry from last quarter.
HTTP DDoS attacks
Last quarter, the volume of HTTP DDoS attacks increased by 15% QoQ. This quarter, it grew even more. Attacks volume increased by 65% QoQ to a total staggering figure of 8.9 trillion HTTP DDoS requests that Cloudflare systems automatically detected and mitigated.
When comparing the global and country-specific HTTP DDoS attack request volume, the US remains the largest source of HTTP DDoS attacks. One out of every 25 HTTP DDoS requests originated from the US. China remains in second place. Brazil replaced Germany as the third largest source of HTTP DDoS attacks.
When examining the total volume of attack traffic, the US remains the main target of HTTP DDoS attacks. Almost 5% of all HTTP DDoS attack traffic targeted the US. Singapore came in second and China in third.
In terms of absolute volume of HTTP DDoS attack traffic, the Gaming and Gambling industry jumps to first place overtaking the Cryptocurrency industry. Over 5% of all HTTP DDoS attack traffic that Cloudflare saw targeted the Gaming and Gambling industry.
Regional findings
Middle East
Retail companies were the most targeted in the Middle East in Q3. Computer Software companies came in second and the Gaming and Gambling industry in third.
Africa
After two consecutive quarters as the most attacked industry, the Telecommunications industry dropped from first place to fourth. Media Production companies were the most attacked industry in Africa. The Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) industry follows as the second most attacked. Gaming and Gambling companies in third.
L3/4 DDoS Attacks
Cloudflare saw a minor increase of 14% in L3/4 DDoS attacks. In Q3, approximately 36% of all L3/4 DDoS attack traffic that the company saw in Q3 originated from the US. Far behind, Germany came in second place with 8% and the UK followed in third place with almost 5%.
The Internet networks and services that were most targeted belonged to the Information Technology and Services industry. Almost 35% of all L3/4 DDoS attack traffic (in bytes) targeted the Information Technology and Internet industry.
Far behind, Telecommunication companies came in second with a mere share of 3%. Gaming and Gambling came in third, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance companies (BFSI) in fourth.
For the second consecutive quarter, Chinese Internet networks and services remain the most targeted by L3/4 DDoS attacks. These China-bound attacks account for 29% of all attacks in Q3. Far, far behind, the US came in second place (3.5%) and Taiwan in third place (3%).
Top attack vectors
For the second consecutive quarter, DNS-based DDoS attacks were the most common. Almost 47% of all attacks were DNS-based. This represents a 44% increase compared to the previous quarter. SYN floods remain in second place, followed by RST floods, UDP floods, and Mirai attacks.
Ransom DDoS attacks
Over the past quarter, reports of Ransom DDoS attacks continue to decrease. Approximately 8% of respondents reported being threatened or subject to Random DDoS attacks, which continues a decline that Cloudflare has been tracking throughout the year. Hopefully it is because threat actors have realised that organisations will not pay them. However, this is also very seasonal, and an increase in ransom DDoS attacks is to be expected during the months of November and December.
Looking at Q4 numbers from the past three years, Ransom DDoS attacks have been significantly increasing YoY in November. In previous Q4s, it reached a point where one out of every four respondents reported being subject to Ransom DDoS attacks.
Cloudflare has put together a list of recommendations to help organisations optimise their defenses against DDoS attacks. They can also follow the company’s step-by-step wizards to secure applications and prevent DDoS attacks.
Commenting on the report, Bashar Bashaireh, Managing Director & Head of Sales – Middle East and Türkiye at Cloudflare, “It’s important to remember that security is a process, not a single product or flip of a switch. We offer comprehensive bundled features — firewall, bot detection, API protection, and caching — to bolster our automated DDoS defense. With Cloudflare’s multi-layered defenses and automatic DDoS protections, our clients are equipped to navigate these challenges confidently. Our mission is to help build a better Internet, and so we continue to stand guard, ensuring a safer and more reliable digital realm for all.”
Dive into the full report here.