Cloudflare has successfully stopped the largest distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack ever recorded. The attack briefly peaked at 22.2 terabits per second (Tbps) and 10.6 billion packets per second (Bpps) before being neutralized in just 40 seconds. Despite its short duration, the sheer scale made it the most powerful incident mitigated in internet history.
DDoS attacks are designed to overwhelm servers or networks with excessive traffic, causing slowdowns or complete outages. They have become increasingly common and severe. Just three weeks ago, Cloudflare reported handling an 11.5 Tbps and 5.1 Bpps attack—then the largest on record. Prior to that, the company’s peak stood at 7.3 Tbps. According to Cloudflare, 2025 has already seen an unprecedented surge in attack volumes.
How Massive Was It?
To put the numbers in perspective, the malicious traffic generated during this latest attack was comparable to streaming one million 4K videos simultaneously. The packet rate of 10.6 Bpps equates to roughly 1.3 web page refreshes every second by every single person on Earth. While the targeted victim has not been identified, Cloudflare confirmed the assault pushed network defenses to their limits.
Such packet floods are particularly difficult to mitigate because, beyond raw bandwidth, firewalls, routers, and load balancers must process each individual request. Even high-capacity systems can be strained under that volume.
The Rise of the Aisuru Botnet
Although Cloudflare has not commented in detail on attribution, researchers at Qi’anxin’s XLAB division suggest the attack was linked to the Aisuru botnet. Active since April 2025, Aisuru is believed to control over 300,000 compromised devices worldwide, including vulnerable routers, IP cameras, and DVR/NVR systems.
Many infections stemmed from a compromised firmware update for Totolink routers, but other brands like Realtek, D-Link, Linksys, Zyxel, and even T-Mobile equipment have also been affected.
As botnets continue to grow in size and sophistication, cybersecurity firms warn that record-breaking attacks like this may soon become the new normal.
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