DDoS attack What is a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack?
A DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service attack is a cyberattack in which multiple compromised systems, often orchestrated as a botnet, flood a targeted network, server, or online service with an overwhelming volume of traffic. This surge in traffic can slow down the target’s systems or even cause them to crash, denying legitimate users access. DDoS attacks are one of the most disruptive forms of cyberthreats, capable of inflicting significant downtime, financial losses, and reputational harm. As cloud-based services and online operations continue to grow, the risk and impact of DDoS attacks have escalated across industries.
- DoS vs DDoS attacks
- What are the types of DDoS attacks?
- How to mitigate a DDoS attack
- HPE Aruba Networking and DDoS protection
DoS vs DDoS attacks
A Denial of Service (DoS) attack and a DDoS attack both aim to disrupt the availability of a service, but they differ significantly in approach and scale. A DoS attack is typically launched from a single source, sending a flood of requests to overwhelm a server or network resource until it is unable to function properly. While impactful, DoS attacks are usually easier to detect and mitigate because they originate from one location.
In contrast, DDoS attacks rely on multiple sources—often spread across various geographical regions—to execute an attack. These sources, typically infected devices controlled by an attacker, form a botnet. The attacker directs the botnet to overwhelm a target, such as a website or application, with a flood of requests that exhaust its resources and make it unresponsive. This distributed nature makes DDoS attacks much harder to block, as they appear to come from many different IP addresses and geographic locations. Consequently, DDoS attacks can be far more challenging to counter, requiring advanced, multi-layered defenses to handle the sheer volume of traffic and to distinguish legitimate users from malicious ones.
