Earlier this week, gamers worldwide encountered widespread disruptions across major platforms, as both Steam and Riot Games suffered service outages and connection issues. Reports of disconnection and matchmaking failures began to surge around 8:00 PM EDT on October 6, according to Downdetector data. While neither Steam nor Riot has definitively confirmed the cause, cybersecurity observers strongly suspect a massive DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack as the culprit.
(photo: Cybernews)
Estimates place the peak bandwidth of the attack at an astonishing 29.69 terabits per second (Tbps), surpassing previous DDoS record thresholds. This incident underscores that even prominent gaming and digital services remain vulnerable to large-scale cyberattacks. Beyond inconvenience for players, such outages can damage corporate reputations, disrupt competitive gaming ecosystems, and strain cybersecurity infrastructures. Moving forward, service providers and platform operators may need to adopt more proactive defenses.
(photo: Chrispi / X)
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