Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a cyberattack in which multiple compromised devices (botnets) flood a target system, server, or network with excessive traffic. The objective is to overwhelm resources, disrupt normal operations, and make services inaccessible to legitimate users.


How DDoS Attacks Work

Botnet Creation – Attackers infect multiple devices (computers, IoT devices, servers) with malware, turning them into bots.

Control & Command – The attacker directs the botnet to target a specific system or service.

Traffic Overload – The bots send a massive number of requests, consuming bandwidth, processing power, or application resources.

Service Disruption – Legitimate users experience slow performance or a complete outage.

Types of DDoS Attacks

Volumetric Attacks – Overload the target’s bandwidth with massive traffic (e.g., UDP Flood, ICMP Flood).

Protocol Attacks – Exploit vulnerabilities in network protocols to drain server resources (e.g., SYN Flood, Ping of Death).

Application Layer Attacks – Target specific applications with a flood of seemingly valid requests to exhaust processing power (e.g., HTTP Flood, Slowloris).

Effects of a DDoS Attack

Service Outages – Websites, applications, and networks become inaccessible.

Revenue Losses – Businesses suffer financial damages due to downtime.

Reputational Damage – Customer trust may decline due to service disruptions.

Higher Security Costs – Organizations must invest in mitigation tools and recovery strategies.

Prevention and Mitigation Strategies

- Traffic Filtering – Firewalls and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) help block malicious traffic.

- Rate Limiting – Restricts the number of requests per user to prevent overload.

- Load Balancing – Spreads traffic across multiple servers to prevent bottlenecks.

- DDoS Protection Services – Cloud-based solutions like Cloudflare, AWS Shield, and Akamai absorb and mitigate attacks.

- Real-Time Monitoring – Detecting traffic anomalies helps identify attacks early and take defensive action.


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