DDoS Attacks Surge 110% in Q1 2025: Sector Targets, Botnets, and Mitigation Strategies

The first quarter of 2025 saw a dramatic 110% year-over-year increase in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, according to a report by cybersecurity firm Curator¹. This surge follows a 50% rise observed throughout 2024, indicating an accelerating threat landscape. The attacks reached record volumes, with one incident peaking at 988.64 Gbps², while security teams faced increasingly sophisticated tactics from attackers.

Attack Volume and Methodology

Security teams recorded over 2,600 DDoS attacks during Q1 2025, with notable shifts in attacker behavior. Rather than relying solely on high-volume assaults, threat actors increasingly employed low-volume, multi-IP “carpet bombing” techniques designed to evade traditional detection systems³. The largest observed botnet contained 1.33 million compromised devices, six times larger than the biggest botnet documented in 2024⁴. Geographic analysis showed Brazil (51.1%), Argentina (6.1%), and Russia (4.6%) as primary sources of these compromised devices.

Sector-Specific Targeting Patterns

Attack patterns varied significantly by industry vertical. Layer 3-4 attacks predominantly targeted IT/Telecom (26.8%), FinTech (22.3%), and E-commerce (21.5%) sectors, collectively representing 70% of all attacks⁵. Application-layer (L7) attacks showed different priorities, with FinTech absorbing 54% of incidents, followed by E-commerce (14.4%) and IT/Telecom (8.1%). Retail organizations faced additional pressure from bot-driven scraping attacks, accounting for 40.7% of malicious bot activity targeting price and inventory data⁶.

DDoS Attack Distribution by Sector (Q1 2025)
Attack Type	Primary Targets	Percentage
L3-L4	IT/Telecom, FinTech, E-commerce	70% combined
L7	FinTech, E-commerce, IT/Telecom	76.5% combined
API-focused	Retail, Telecom, Finance	135% increase YoY

Geopolitical and Technical Shifts

Russia (28.2%), the United States (14.4%), and Brazil (6.1%) emerged as the top sources of attack traffic⁷, while India, China, and the U.S. were the most frequently targeted countries globally. API attacks grew particularly concerning, showing a 135% year-over-year increase, with retail sector API endpoints experiencing 162% more attacks than the previous year⁸. The longest continuous attack lasted 71 hours against transportation and logistics infrastructure, including airport systems⁹.

Defensive Recommendations

Security professionals should prioritize several key mitigation strategies:

Implement multi-layered DDoS protection combining network-level and application-level defenses
Deploy API-specific security measures including rate limiting and behavioral analysis
Monitor for low-volume, distributed attacks that may evade threshold-based alerts
Segment critical infrastructure to limit attack surface exposure

“Attackers now prioritize ROI, avoiding brute-force methods for targeted, adaptive strikes,” noted Sergei Levin of Solar Group³.

The Q1 2025 data demonstrates that DDoS remains an evolving threat requiring continuous adaptation of defensive measures. Organizations should integrate DDoS protection into core security strategies rather than treating it as a standalone concern. With attackers increasingly leveraging IoT devices like smart TVs and cameras for botnets¹⁰, comprehensive device management policies become essential components of defense-in-depth approaches.