DDoS attacks can knock services offline before links reach capacity

Netscout's DDoS Threat Intelligence Report for H1 2026 documents a near-25% year-over-year increase to 9.1 million DDoS attacks, dramatic growth in ultra-high-volume attacks (exceeding 1 Tbps/1 Gpps), and evolving tactics—direct-path and carpet-bombing patterns, short-rate attacks from DDoS-for-hire platforms, and use of residential proxy networks—that strain provider and enterprise mitigation capabilities and require finer-grained edge defenses.