How We Protected a Famous Gaming Company Against a 450+ Gbps DDoS Attack

How We Protected a Famous Gaming Company Against a 450+ Gbps DDoS Attack

Year on year, we’re seeing a concerning uptick in both the average and peak intensities of DDoS attacks. 

The max DDoS attack volume was 300 Gbps in 2021, 650 Gbps in 2022, and 800 Gbps in 2023
DDoS max attack intensity, 2021–2023

In 2023, it’s no longer surprising to encounter attacks with magnitudes ranging from 300–400 Gbps—these have become the new norm for businesses. Just recently, our team at Gcore successfully thwarted a massive 450+ Gbps attack aimed at a well-known gaming company.

A graph starts at near-zero and shows a dramatic peaks, with the highest above 450 Gbps
DDoS attack shown by spike in bits/s, reaching over 450 Gbps

The assault focused on ports used for online gaming. Cybercriminals attempted to mimic the patterns of legitimate user traffic in order to mount a potent attack. Leveraging our real-time traffic analytics, we identified and neutralized the threat right from its initial request. Attempts to disguise malicious activity as genuine user traffic fail when faced with Gcore’s advanced DDoS Protection measures.

Legitimate traffic around 150 Mb/s continues during the DDoS attack
Legitimate traffic is allowed to pass during the DDoS attack

How Gcore Thwarted the Attack

Gcore’s security experts immediately detected and neutralized the attack, avoiding any disruptions to the client’s servers. We used a distributed infrastructure and collaborated with peering partners to diffuse the incoming traffic across various locations, minimizing the impact of the attempted attack.

We also used UDP Challenge-Response (UCR) technology—a sophisticated authorization mechanism—as an additional layer of defense. In this system, we send a challenge message to each connecting client. The client must respond with a message processed through a secret function shared between us and the client. Since we know the shared function, we can instantly verify whether the incoming message is legitimate. Clients providing a valid response can be trusted and are allowed to access protected resources.

Stop DDoS Attacks with Gcore

Our ability to stop a major DDoS attack on a famous gaming organization shows the importance of having a strong DDoS protection plan. By partnering with Gcore, you can guarantee the availability and durability of online services even dring massive DDoS attacks. 

Investing in strong DDoS protection measures can save your business time, money, and stress down the line. Be on the cutting edge of defense—request a free consultation with a Gcore security expert!

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