Google Faces Largest DDoS Attack in History on Cloud Armor Client

Google Cloud Armor Defends Client Against Largest DDoS Attack in History

In June 2024, Google Cloud Armor encountered and successfully deflected the largest DDoS attack to date, targeting one of its customers with a record-breaking 46 million requests per second (rps). To put this in perspective, this volume of traffic was equivalent to the total daily requests received by Wikipedia within seconds. The attack, which represents a 76% increase over the previous record, highlights the growing sophistication of Layer 7 DDoS attacks targeting applications through the HTTP/S layer.

What Happened on June 1, 2024?

The attack on Google Cloud Armor’s client began on June 1, at approximately 09:45 BST, aiming to overwhelm the client’s HTTP/S load balancer. Initially, the attack generated around 10,000 requests per second. However, within just eight minutes, the attacker escalated the assault, reaching an unprecedented 100,000 rps. Despite this, Cloud Armor’s advanced adaptive defenses identified malicious traffic early in the attack cycle.

Two minutes later, the attack surged to its peak, sending 46 million rps. Google Cloud Armor’s client services, however, remained online, with the Cloud Armor adaptive security rule allowing normal operations to continue. The attack ultimately lasted just over an hour and involved more than 5,000 source IP addresses from 132 countries.

Why Was This Attack So Powerful?

DDoS attacks have evolved rapidly, with cybercriminals increasingly leveraging Layer 7 DDoS attacks targeting application-level protocols like HTTP/S. These attacks attempt to drain the application layer’s resources, which can cripple a website or application without the need for massive network traffic.

The recent Google Cloud Armor attack underscores the role of highly distributed, global botnets. The scale, in this case, was astounding, requiring Google Cloud Armor to analyze and respond to traffic in near real-time as it reached volumes far beyond historical precedents.

How Google Cloud Armor's Adaptive Defenses Prevented Disaster

Google Cloud Armor’s adaptive defenses enabled real-time responses by analyzing and categorizing incoming traffic as soon as the attack began. Within eight minutes of the initial onslaught, Cloud Armor’s traffic analysis algorithms began flagging suspicious patterns and behaviors across the network. The system quickly generated and delivered a custom rule to the affected customer, designed to intercept and deflect malicious traffic without affecting legitimate requests.

Early Detection and Response

In highly sophisticated attacks like this, early detection is crucial to preventing service degradation. Cloud Armor’s traffic analysis detected a rise in request patterns within seconds, allowing the system to activate an adaptive rule before the attack reached its full capacity.

1. Real-Time Traffic Analysis: Google Cloud Armor continuously analyzed traffic patterns, detecting abnormal request spikes and potential malicious behaviors across the network.
2. Alert and Custom Signature Generation: Based on this analysis, Cloud Armor generated a signature rule that specifically targeted malicious traffic while preserving legitimate access.
3. Automated Defense Activation: As the attack intensified, Cloud Armor activated this signature rule, applying it to the affected services.

Global Botnet Involvement and Attack Scale

The attack’s traffic was distributed across 5,256 source IP addresses in 132 countries, highlighting the global scale of the botnet responsible. Attackers often exploit networks of compromised devices worldwide to intensify traffic, making it difficult to mitigate these attacks by blocking specific geographic regions or networks. Cloud Armor’s global presence and machine learning-based analysis allowed it to address this challenge, identifying and blocking malicious IPs across regions.

Lessons for Businesses Facing High-Level DDoS Threats

This attack provides a critical example of how proactive, adaptive security measures can minimize service downtime and financial loss, even against unprecedented threats. Here are the primary takeaways for organizations needing robust DDoS defense.

1. Implement Adaptive DDoS Protection

Layer 7 DDoS attacks are challenging because they mimic legitimate user requests, making traditional DDoS defenses less effective. Adaptive solutions, like Google Cloud Armor, use behavioral analysis and machine learning to differentiate between legitimate and malicious traffic, even when attack patterns change dynamically.

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2. Prioritize Early Detection

Attackers are using increasingly complex methods to mask their traffic, making early detection crucial to maintaining service availability. Leveraging advanced traffic monitoring tools can enable your team to detect and respond to irregular traffic patterns in seconds, minimizing the chance of successful service disruption.

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3. Use Multi-Layered DDoS Mitigation Strategies

To prevent attacks at different levels, businesses should combine application-layer defenses with network-layer defenses. This holistic approach minimizes the potential for attackers to overwhelm any single defensive layer.

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4. Deploy Adaptive Rules Based on Real-Time Traffic Insights

For those experiencing high-stakes threats, Cloud Armor’s approach illustrates the value of real-time adaptive rule deployment based on live data insights. This allows organizations to customize defenses against specific attack types as they evolve during an incident.

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The Future of DDoS Mitigation in Cloud Environments

The June 1 attack on Google’s Cloud Armor client is a wake-up call for businesses about the importance of next-generation DDoS defense. With cloud-based resources becoming a popular target, traditional static security models can no longer keep up. The deployment of real-time, adaptive defenses, as demonstrated by Cloud Armor, represents a pivotal advancement in cybersecurity for cloud clients facing increasingly complex attack vectors.

For companies of all sizes, the takeaway is clear: defensive agility is essential. Solutions that offer real-time analysis and rapid defensive adaptations are becoming must-have components in the cybersecurity toolkit.

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Editor's Note: This blog was updated on November 14, 2024.