What does a DDoS attack mean?

What exactly is a DDoS attack?

A DDoS or Distributed-Denial-of-Service attack is a form of cyber attempt. It means that the goal of a DDoS assault is to overload a server, computer, or network with massive amounts of traffic generated from various sources. Then, when the target fails, its services or access to it for regular users is denied.

When cybercriminals succeed in shutting down your company, it will have an impact on your revenues. Furthermore, it will increase your costs for resolving the issue and harm your reputation. In addition, a DDoS attack might be used as a distraction by thieves in preparation for another data breach attack. So, if your website is down for an extended period of time, your search engine ranking may suffer.

How does it work?

DDoS attacks are mostly caused by devices connected to the Internet. Malware infects many appliances, computers, and IoT, and the attacker gains control of them. Bots or zombies are terms commonly used to characterize such devices, and a botnet is a collection of them.

The hacker is now ready to launch the attack after establishing the botnet. They’re all controlled from afar, and each one is given orders. All of the zombies or bots that are affected send requests to the victim’s IP address. Eventually, the network or server will become overburdened and unable to handle the load. Because each bot seems to be a standard Internet device, distinguishing between legitimate and malicious traffic is difficult.

DDoS attacks types

We can divide DDoS attacks into three categories:

• Attacks on the application layer — They overwhelm applications with bogus requests.
• Assaults that deliver a large amount of harmful traffic to a device, website, or server are known as volume-based attacks. There are ICMP, UDP, and spoofed-packet flood attacks, for example.
• DDoS attacks at the network layer or protocol level send vast amounts of packets to their target network infrastructures and tools. SYN floods and Smurf DDoS are two well-known protocol attacks.

For all forms of attacks, the purpose is always the same. That is to make the target’s resources sluggish and unresponsive at all times.

How can you defend yourself against a DDoS attack?

• Always keep your systems up to date. If you run your own DNS server, you must keep it up to date at all times. You should keep an eye out for potential flaws or malfunctions and update your software on a regular basis. 
• Monitoring of traffic. For stopping a DDoS attack, technology that constantly monitors data and detects abnormal patterns and abrupt traffic surges is critical.
• Have load balancing technology. It distributes traffic by routing it from one server to another, attempting to strike a balance that keeps servers from becoming overburdened.
• Invest in anti-DDoS software. You need modern technology to increase your defense against DDoS attacks. A combination of tools, rather than a single one. It will cost you money, but it will be much less than the cost of dealing with the aftermath of an attack.

Recommended article: DNS outage – Definition and Details

Conclusion

DDoS attacks are a significant problem. They are a successful method of disrupting web services. They have the ability to take down your website for an extended length of time. But for this not to happen, prepare yourself!