CloudFlare recently identified the strongest distributed denial of service event in history, tracing the attack to a web of more than 30,000 compromised devices connected to the internet. This information comes from a Digital Trends edition report and reflects a moment when the scale of misused devices was matched by a staggering surge in traffic directed at online services.
While the 30,000 devices represented a record in volume, they did not denote the largest botnet CloudFlare has seen. What stands out is the extraordinary power generated by this network, capable of producing between 50 and 71 million requests per second. For context, the prior benchmark for a single incident rested around 46 million requests per second, underscoring how quickly botnet-driven DDoS capacity can escalate when multiple compromised systems are mobilized in concert.
CloudFlare has not disclosed specific details about the attackers or their stated goals. The organization confirms that the incident occurred on February 11 and 12, with the attack launched against widely used online gaming platforms, cryptocurrency services, and cloud-based infrastructures. This aligns with observable trends where threat actors target high-availability services that attract substantial user traffic and financial activity.
Reports from Digital Trends indicate a broader rise in DDoS threats over recent periods. In 2022, there was a noticeable uptick in the frequency of such attacks, with a substantial share characterized by high magnitude. Observers note that larger, more powerful campaigns have become more common, signaling a shift in how threat actors pursue disruption and monetization across digital ecosystems. The pattern suggests attackers are leveraging automation and low-cost access to attack services, which lowers the barrier to launching disruptive campaigns.
Industry analysts explain that the growing accessibility of DDoS tools contributes to the increased frequency of incidents. In cybercrime markets, platforms exist that offer turnkey solutions for launching attacks at a fixed monthly price, making it easier for individuals with varying levels of technical skill to participate. On average, access to such services can run around 30 dollars per month, or roughly 2.2 thousand rubles, illustrating how affordability fuels the volume of modern cyber threats. The result is a more crowded threat landscape where even small teams can mount large-scale disruptions without deep technical know-how.
The visibility of these events has risen alongside public interest, with media coverage highlighting notable cases where DDoS campaigns disrupted critical services and shone a light on the fragility of online platforms. As defenses evolve, engineers and researchers emphasize the importance of layered security, traffic filtering, and rapid incident response to limit the impact of high-volume attacks. In North America, enterprises continue to invest in scalable mitigation strategies, robust load balancing, and anomaly detection to protect users and preserve service continuity while maintaining a credible security posture for customers and partners. This ongoing focus reflects a broader commitment to resilience in cloud services, gaming ecosystems, and digital currencies across the continent. Attribution notes accompany these analyses to provide credible sources for the evolving threat landscape, ensuring readers can verify the context and sequence of events. [Digital Trends] [Industry insights] [Security researchers]