Cloudflare reports surge in smaller, shorter DDoS attacks

Cloudflare has published its DDoS Threat Report for the third quarter of 2026, showing a rise in smaller, shorter attacks.

Cloudflare linked this pattern to DDoS-for-hire services that rely on volume and repetition rather than very large single attacks.

DNS amplification rose 215% to 3.43% of all network-layer attacks, while other UDP floods increased from 14.06% to 31.31%.

Cloudflare said the shorter, mid-range attacks were aimed mainly at the Computer Software, Gambling & Casinos, and Information Technology sectors.

"As this quarter's distributions make clear, most attacks end long before a human analyst could see the alert, and the largest attacks still regularly exceed 1 Tbps at a cadence measured in hundreds per quarter," Cloudflare said.