The Internet Got Weirder in 2025. And bots won

Cloudflare’s 2025 Year in Review shows Internet traffic up 19%, post-quantum encryption protecting 52% of human traffic, and record DDoS attacks—plus outages and speed leaders.

Cloudflare just dropped its sixth annual Year in Review, and it’s a tidy snapshot of what the Internet looked like this year—how we used it, what broke it, and who tried to attack it.

Global Internet traffic grew 19% year-on-year.
Post-quantum encryption now secures 52% of all human traffic (per Cloudflare).
Cloudflare says it saw 25+ record-breaking DDoS attacks as cyber warfare escalated.
Civil society and non-profits became the most attacked sector for the first time.
Nearly half of major Internet disruptions were linked to government actions.

The headline themes: more traffic, more automation, and bigger security swings. Cloudflare says traffic jumped 19%, AI capabilities moved fast, and post-quantum encryption coverage hit 52% of human traffic. Meanwhile, the “bot wars” got louder and DDoS attacks hit new extremes.

And if you missed it, we’ve already covered Cloudflare-related chaos/

What changed: traffic is up, and AI is everywhere

Cloudflare says the Internet kept swelling in 2025, with global traffic up 19% compared to last year. It also flags “substantial changes” in AI, which tracks with how quickly AI tools have become normal parts of work and daily browsing.

19% year-on-year growth in global Internet traffic
AI capabilities advanced quickly
The Internet’s role in society keeps expanding

More traffic isn’t just “more streaming”. It also means more automated activity, more edge cases, and more stress on the systems that keep apps and services stable.

The bot wars: one crawler stands out

Cloudflare’s review calls out a clear trend: automated traffic is surging, and one player is leading the pack. It says Google’s crawling bot “dwarfed” other leading AI bots, becoming the single biggest source of automated Internet traffic.

AI crawlers are driving major automated activity
Google’s crawling bot is described as the dominant source
Automation is now a core part of Internet traffic patterns

In plain terms: websites aren’t just talking to humans anymore. They’re talking to machines constantly—indexing, scraping, training, and checking content at scale.

Security got sharper—and the attackers got bolder

This is the most important part for normal people and businesses: Cloudflare says post-quantum encryption now secures 52% of all human traffic, aimed at protecting users from future threats.

52% of human traffic secured with post-quantum encryption
25+ record-breaking DDoS attacks observed amid escalating cyber warfare
Civil society and non-profits became the most attacked sector for the first time

Cloudflare also notes a shift in targeting: civil society and non-profits took the top spot as the most attacked sector, which it links to the sensitivity (and potential value) of their user data.

If you’re a small org, NGO, community group, or anyone holding member data: this is your reminder that “we’re too small to be attacked” is not a strategy.

Outages: governments were a bigger factor than cables

Cloudflare reports that nearly half of major Internet disruptions it observed were caused by government actions. At the same time, outages from cable cuts dropped nearly 50%, while outages linked to power failures doubled.

Government actions triggered ~50% of major disruptions
Cable-cut disruptions fell by nearly half
Power-failure disruptions doubled

So yes, the Internet still breaks because of physical infrastructure. But 2025 also made it clear that policy decisions can “pull the plug” just as effectively.

Speed and quality: Europe took the crown

Cloudflare says Europe dominated global connectivity metrics, with European countries holding the highest average download speeds (200 Mbps+) and Spain ranked #1 worldwide for overall Internet quality.

Europe led in average speeds (200 Mbps and above)
Spain ranked top for overall Internet quality
Connectivity quality remains uneven globally

For UAE readers: it’s a useful benchmark. If your home Wi-Fi feels “fine”, Europe’s numbers are a reminder of what “great” looks like.

FAQ

What is Cloudflare’s 2025 Year in Review?

It’s Cloudflare’s annual report that summarises Internet trends, traffic patterns, outages, and security insights observed across 2025.

What does “post-quantum encryption” mean here?

Cloudflare uses the term to describe encryption designed to stay safe even against future quantum computers, and says it now protects 52% of human traffic.

Which sector was attacked the most in 2025?

Cloudflare says civil society and non-profit organisations became the most attacked sector for the first time.

What caused many major Internet outages?

Cloudflare reports nearly half of major disruptions were triggered by government actions, with power-related outages rising too.

Where can I see the data myself?

Cloudflare points readers to Cloudflare Radar, its free public tool for Internet trends and insights: https://radar.cloudflare.com/year-in-review/2025