• A massive DDoS attack was recently detected during a major NHL event
• Attack grew from 67Gbps to nearly 1Tbps in twenty minutes
• Multivector strike used UDP, SYN, IP, and TCP flood techniques

Cybersecurity firm Qrator Labs has claimed it successfully mitigated the largest DDoS attack so far recorded in 2025.

The April 3 attack targeted an unnamed online betting organization, lasting around 90 minutes, starting at 11:15 with a surge of 67Gbps, before escalating sharply to 217Gbps by 11:23, and peaked just short of 1Tbps at 965Gbps by 11:36.

Activity then slowly decreased to 549Gbps by 12:41, with the attack ending shortly afterwards. The DDoS attack was multivector in nature, featuring a peak of 965Gbps in UDP flood, 229Gbps in SYN flood, 214Gbps in IP flood, and 169Gbps in TCP flood.

Sporting events are major targets

Qrator notes that the attack happened on the same day that NHL star Alexander Ovechkin scored his 892nd goal, tying Wayne Gretzky’s long-standing record. Ovechkin’s achievement was likely the trigger for the attack as the online betting sector is especially vulnerable during major sporting events.

A similar attack pattern was spotted during the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, held in Germany, where spikes in DDoS activity also targeted online betting sites.

“This new incident is a clear reminder that major industry-specific events can be exploited by malicious actors. Companies that work with them, such as online betting platforms, must prepare in advance to defend their digital infrastructure when attention is at its peak,” said Andrey Leskin, Chief Technology Officer at Qrator Labs.

With major sporting moments drawing massive audiences online, betting platforms continue to be a prime target for coordinated attacks such as this one.

Other noteworthy sporting events set to take place this year, which could prove to be a target for similar DDoS strikes, include the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States and the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

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Wayne Williams is a freelancer writing news for TechRadar Pro. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for 30 years. In that time he wrote for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a number of them too.