From smarter bots to predictive exploits, AI Is changing the DDoS game. In a recent MazeBolt webinar, Amit Morson, VP Services, and Eyal Rahimi, VP R&D, unpacked one of today’s most pressing cybersecurity developments:
As attackers use AI to accelerate, adapt, and automate their campaigns, organizations need to rethink DDoS protection tactics. This session explored both sides of the AI arms race – the attackers and the defenders – and provided actionable guidance to help security leaders reduce the risk of damaging DDoS downtime and regain control. Here are some of the key takeaways from the webinar:
AI Is Making DDoS Attacks Smarter – and More Devastating
AI has become a powerful ally for attackers. During the webinar, Amit and Eyal explored several real-world examples of how AI is now used to:
- Identify weak spots in network defenses
- Predict vulnerabilities in specific layers
- Generate and refine attack scripts at speed and scale
- Mimic legitimate traffic patterns to bypass behavioral filters
Eyal pointed out that, “What took attackers hours or days now takes minutes. AI makes their targeting sharper, and their attacks harder to detect.”
As a result, we are now seeing DDoS campaigns that are faster, more frequent, and far more effective at evading legacy defenses.
Data-Driven Insights into DDoS Success Rates
The session also shared data about DDoS success rates, including:
- Enterprises typically are 40–75% vulnerable to DDoS attack – even when they have advanced DDoS mitigation deployed
- There is a surge in the percentage of DDoS attacks that successfully penetrate DDoS protections and cause damaging downtime – as compared to the percentage of DDoS attacks that fail
- DDoS misconfigurations remain the root cause of DDoS vulnerability
Amit explained that, “Most companies think they’re protected. But attackers know better – especially when AI helps them find the weak points first.”
How Defenders Can Use AI to Level the Playing Field
It’s not all bad news. The same technologies powering attackers can – and must – be used to strengthen cyber defense strategies. The webinar highlighted how:
- AI-enhanced threat modeling can spot blind spots faster
- Continuous DDoS simulations (like those from MazeBolt RADAR™) reveal DDoS vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them
- SmartCycle™ – the new AI-powered feature of MazeBolt RADAR™ – ensures that the most critical issues are identified first and remediated, even for enterprises with the largest attack surfaces
Amit pointed out that, “The real power isn’t just in stopping attacks. It’s in knowing where you’re exposed before they happen.”
Reactive Is Risky. Proactive Is Essential.
The AI boom has contributed to the growing threat of damaging DDoS downtime and turned DDoS into a more dynamic, unpredictable threat. Annual Red Team tests are no longer enough because they only cover a small percentage of the attack surface and are too disruptive for complex organizations. To protect service availability, meet compliance standards, and ensure business continuity, enterprises need a way to test and validate continuously – and deploy data-driven remediation proactively.
Most importantly, enterprises need full visibility into their DDoS exposure – before an attacker exposes it for them.
Are you investing in DDoS protections but still suffering DDoS damage? Learn more about preventing downtime! Watch the full webinar here.
