Microsoft mitigates the “largest DDoS attack ever recorded”

An Azure customer in Europe was the target of the attack, which was 140% more than the highest bandwidth volume Microsoft recorded in 2020. It exceeds the peak traffic volume of the previous largest attack which was 2.3Tbps and aimed at Amazon Web Services last year.

According to Microsoft, the attack lasted more than 10 minutes, with sudden bursts of traffic that peaked at 2.4Tbps, 0.55Tbps, and lastly 1.7Tbps. DDoS attacks are usually used to crash websites and force them or services offline, caused by increasing traffic to a level that is above the web host’s capacity. Typically, attackers use a botnet to perform a DDoS attack, which is a network of machines that can be controlled remotely. Throughout the attack, Azure was able to stay online as it has the ability to absorb tens of terabits of DDoS attacks, according to Microsoft.

“The attack traffic originated from approximately 70,000 sources and from multiple countries in the Asia-Pacific region, such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, and China, as well as from the United States,” explained Microsoft Azure’s Amir Dahan.

Although the number of DDoS attacks on Azure has grown in 2021, the maximum attack throughput fell to 625Mbps before the 2.4Tbps attack in August. Microsoft hasn’t named the Azure customer that was targeted, however these kinds of attacks are often used as cover for secondary attacks that aim to spread malware and infiltrate company systems.