Blizzard deals with DDoS attack during COVID-19 pandemic

As more and more people stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the influx of people playing video games has forced many to rely on Blizzard and other game developers’ network services. 

The high volume of players leaves companies like Blizzard particularly susceptible to denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks by online predators and hackers. While the nefarious actions can sometimes cripple the ability of players to log in to their favorite game for extended periods of time, Blizzard made relatively quick work of one that happened last night. 

Around 10:15pm CT, the Blizzard customer service Twitter account said that the company was monitoring a DDoS attack against network providers causing latency and disconnection. But, in just under an hour, the company posted again saying that the DDoS it was monitoring ended at 10:56pm CT.

This isn’t the first time a DDoS has crippled Blizzard’s servers. Last year, numerous World of Warcraft Classic realms, including the most popular realm among Twitch streamers Faeralina, was targeted by a DDoS attack that prevented players from getting online for an extended period of time. 

Just over a week after that incident, Blizzard announced that authorities found and apprehended the culprit of the attacks. The company hasn’t posted anything regarding attempts to find this DDoS-er, but considering how short of a time span the attack lasted comparatively, there might not be as active a search as there was for the prior attack. 

Additionally, that attack on WoW servers last year came less than a month after the game was released with attacks targeting specific high population servers.