Arelion's 2025 DDoS Threat Landscape Report
Arelion has released its latest
DDoS Threat Landscape Report for 2025, which provides an in-depth analysis of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack trends observed throughout 2024. This report sheds light on alarming new records in attack volumes and a remarkable escalation in sophistication of these attacks, as well as a shift in targeting influenced by global geopolitical factors.
Overview of Cyber Landscape in 2024
Throughout 2024, the ongoing geopolitical disputes notably influenced DDoS activity, particularly in Europe. For instance, the military conflict in Ukraine significantly contributed to an influx of DDoS attacks: in Sweden, attacks rose by 2.5 times, while Germany experienced a threefold increase, and France faced a striking fivefold increase compared to earlier years. While there was a reduction in DDoS incidents in Poland, the Baltic nations and Finland became hotspots, indicating that these attacks are fundamental in hybrid warfare strategies. Additionally, Arelion reported an increase in activities from state-sponsored and hacktivist groups targeting pivotal internet infrastructure, which suggests a more aggressive approach toward cyber warfare.
Notable Attack Metrics in 2024
The
average size of volumetric attacks reached an astonishing 23.0 Gb/s in 2024—up by 97% compared to 2023. The month of October witnessed the most massive attack on Arelion's global internet backbone,
AS1299, peaking at 1.57 Tbps—a staggering 63% increase from the previous year. This unprecedented surge was attributed to coordinated
TCP SYN and
DNS amplification assaults specifically targeting major cloud service providers in the United States.
One significant incident worth mentioning occurred against
Cloudflare, which suffered one of the most intense campaigns to date, peaking at 4.2 Tb/s through multi-vector TCP SYN and DNS amplification flood. This assault highlighted a major leap in the effectiveness and variety of DDoS attack methodologies used by adversaries, especially when compared to the largest attack of 2023, which was pegged at 960 Gb/s.
Patterns and Shifts in Attack Strategies
The attacks' nature evolved as shown by an increase in the
packet rate, reaching as high as 440 Mpps during August 2024, up from a previous high of 343 Mpps in 2023. This rise indicates a shift towards high-velocity, short-burst attacks, as opposed to longer, drawn-out assaults. Moreover, the mean packet rate increased by 24%, reflecting not only an evolution in attackers' strategies but also an improvement in their ability to execute rapid assaults.
Interestingly, while DNS amplification retained its status as the most significant attack vector for 2024—accounting for over half of all amplified traffic—its dominance diminished slightly, decreasing from 88% to 55%. This diversified approach by attackers showcases an increased experimentation with various amplification strategies.
Despite the effectiveness of
carpet bombing tactics, their occurrence notably dropped in 2024, suggesting a strategic pivot among attackers to emphasize targeted assaults rather than broad-spectrum campaigns.
The online gaming industry bore the brunt of DDoS attacks, enduring relentless pressure with some of the sector's leading platforms suffering incredibly large-scale intrusions.
Concluding Insights
In his commentary on the findings,
Mattias Fridström, Chief Evangelist at Arelion, emphasized the need for organizations to implement layered defense strategies as cyber threats continue to evolve. He underscored the importance of combining on-demand scrubbing, protocol-aware filtering, and application-layer intelligence with preemptive communication strategies to maintain stakeholder trust during such incidents.
For organizations reliant on digital frameworks, the insights gained from the DDoS Threat Landscape Report 2025 serve as a critical reminder of the ever-evolving nature of cyber threats. Adequate preparation and robust defensive measures will be paramount in overcoming the challenges posed by this increasingly intricate landscape.
To read the full report, visit Arelion's official site.