DDoS, or Distributed Denial of Service, is a type of cyberattack where multiple compromised systems, often infected with malware and controlled remotely by attackers, are used to flood a target system or network with overwhelming traffic. This flood of traffic can exhaust the target’s resources such as bandwidth, processing power, or memory, leading to a disruption of services for legitimate users. DDoS attacks typically involve thousands or even millions of devices coordinated to attack simultaneously, making them difficult to mitigate.
A DDoS attack aims to overwhelm a target system or network with a flood of traffic from multiple sources, effectively disrupting or interrupting normal operations. By saturating the target’s resources, legitimate users are unable to access services or resources, causing downtime and financial losses for organizations. The duration and intensity of a DDoS attack can vary, ranging from temporary disruptions to prolonged outages depending on the attackers’ capabilities and the target’s defenses.
An example of a DDoS attack could involve a botnet, a network of compromised computers, and other internet-connected devices infected with malware. Attackers control these devices remotely, instructing them to send a massive volume of requests or data packets to a specific website or online service. As a result, the targeted website or service becomes overwhelmed with traffic, leading to slowdowns or complete unavailability for legitimate users trying to access it.
DDoS attacks are typically made using botnets, networks of compromised computers and devices under the control of malicious actors. These botnets can consist of devices infected with malware that allows attackers to remotely command them to send traffic to a specific target. Attackers use various techniques to amplify the volume of traffic, such as reflection and amplification techniques, where they spoof the source IP addresses and request data from servers that send large responses to the target, increasing the impact of the attack. Defending against DDoS attacks involves using specialized mitigation techniques and services to filter out malicious traffic and maintain service availability.