Nicosia, Cyprus. A major international operation against botnet infrastructure has not reduced cyber risks facing businesses in Cyprus, according to Qrator Labs data for the second quarter of 2026. The cybersecurity company said attackers continued to launch increasingly powerful distributed denial of service attacks despite a reduction in the size of the largest botnet it monitored.
Botnet disruption
Qrator Labs said the largest DDoS botnet it monitored fell from 13.5 million devices in the first quarter of 2026 to 2.09 million devices in the second quarter.
The decline may reflect the impact of an international law enforcement operation, according to the report. Authorities in the United States, Canada and Germany disrupted infrastructure used by several major botnets, including the Aisiru and Kimwolf networks.
More powerful attacks
The reduction in the size of the largest botnet did not result in lower cyber risks, the company said.
During the second quarter of 2026, Qrator Labs mitigated 12 DDoS attacks exceeding one terabit per second, twice the number it handled during the whole of 2025. The company said the figures showed that dismantling parts of global DDoS infrastructure does not necessarily reduce the scale of attacks faced by organisations.
Fintech and iGaming exposure
The findings are particularly significant for Cyprus, where financial technology and iGaming are important parts of the digital economy.
Fintech accounted for 31.9 per cent of all DDoS attacks recorded worldwide in the second quarter of 2026, making it the most targeted sector, according to the report. Payment systems accounted for 10.0 per cent of attacks, followed by banks at 9.5 per cent, betting shops at 9.0 per cent, trading platforms at 7.9 per cent and gambling portals at 5.3 per cent.
Betting platforms were targeted in the two largest DDoS attacks recorded during the quarter, the report said.