Gcore Successfully Stops Massive DDoS Attack on Gaming Company

Gcore recently thwarted a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack targeting one of the world’s biggest gaming companies. The peak power of the attack was 2 Tbps, an alarming new record. 

The previous record for this type of attack was just 1.7 Tbps, according to our recent DDoS attacks trends radar report. This rise is a concerning development since even a 0.3 Tbps increase represents a substantial escalation in attackers’ ability to overwhelm networks, applications, and digital services. Terabit-level attacks are powerful enough to cripple the most robust infrastructures, leading to complete service outages, disrupt critical applications, and can lead to significant financial and reputational damage.

Fortunately, since the Gcore network includes more than 180 points of presence (PoPs) worldwide, we are able to mitigate attacks of this extraordinary power without affecting customer resource performance.

In this instance, attackers primarily utilized UDP attack vectors on a specific port, with the most significant traffic sources coming from the US, Sweden, Russia, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Singapore, Spain, and the UK. The high-volume attacks originated from numerous compromised ASUS home routers, which were likely exploited through a critical vulnerability (CVE 9.8) recently identified by Censys.

How Gcore Challenged the DDoS Attack

Gcore DDoS Protection quickly neutralized the attack to make sure there was no disruption to the company’s gaming services. We also used UDP Challenge-Response technology—a sophisticated authorization mechanism—as an additional layer of defense. UDP Challenge-Response mitigation is used as proof of existence as well as proof of existence for customer endpoints.

How Gcore Can Help Keep Your Business Safe

A DDoS attack exceeding 2 Tbps is a worrying development we haven’t seen before. This is why it’s more important than ever for businesses to keep their defense strategies up to date. Investing in strong DDoS protection measures now can save your business time, money, and stress down the line. 

“As DDoS attacks become increasingly common, it’s concerning that an attack of this size could become the norm—particularly for gaming companies. That’s why we continue to evolve and fortify our products so we can protect our customers and their businesses.”

Andrey Slastenov, Product Manager, Security 

Gcore DDoS Protection ensures your critical resources remain secure, even against large-scale attacks. To safeguard your business and benefit from our industry-leading expertise, reach out to learn how we can protect your assets from future threats. Talk to an expert about your security needs today