Two wars and a World Cup lead to epic DDoS attacks on publishers
Ukraine, Iran, and football inspire geopolitically motivated DDoS attacks, while 1 Tbps traffic jams up 519 percent
In 2026, media organizations have faced a surge in DDoS attacks, attributed to ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, as well as the FIFA World Cup, according to Cloudflare's latest data. Media, production, and publishing accounted for 14.2 percent of all DDoS attacks since January 1, with nearly four times the attacks seen in the second-most targeted sector, gambling and casinos, in the first six months.
DDoS attacks on publishers are particularly effective as availability is the deliverable, and a short disruption during peak readership can significantly impact the outlet. Cloudflare's data aligns with third-party reports showing a 245% increase in cybercrime following the start of the US-Iran war. Hacktivist groups, often coordinated through social media, also rely heavily on DDoS attacks, though they are usually low-level and low-impact.
During this period, Cloudflare also mitigated 805 network-layer attacks exceeding 1 Tbps, a 519% increase from Q1, representing only 0.004% of all DDoS attacks. These hyper-volumetric attacks, while small in proportion, can cause significant damage and are increasingly common. Law enforcement efforts have disrupted key botnets, but the threat remains.
Written by urgent.news from The Register Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
