Have you ever had trouble accessing your favorite website because it wouldn’t load? This could be due to a DDoS attack. A DDoS attack is a nasty move by hackers trying to shut down a site or online service by overwhelming it with tons of traffic.
Think of a DDoS attack like a traffic jam at a city intersection, but instead of too many cars, it’s a flood of data requests that block the road, making it impossible for anyone to get through.
Sometimes, it’s not just one computer sending these data requests; it’s hundreds or thousands and they’re all over the world. This is what sets apart a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack from a DoS (Denial of Service) attack. It’s much harder to handle because there’s not just one source to block.
So why do people launch DDoS attacks? For a few reasons:
1. Business Battles: Competitors might use DDoS attacks to hurt each other’s business.
2. Political Reasons: Groups with political goals might use them to take down sites they disagree with.
3. Money: Hackers might attack and then ask for money to stop the attack. Or, someone might pay hackers to take down a competitor’s website.
Nowadays, attacks can be hired out through the dark web, kind of like ordering a pizza.
DDoS attacks are pretty tricky to deal with. Since the bad traffic looks a lot like normal traffic, stopping the attack without also blocking real customers can be a puzzle. But there are ways to prepare, such as making sure your network can handle lots of visitors or using a content delivery network (CDN).
It’s also illegal to do a DDoS attack. Though, if you get permission from a site and you’re testing to make sure they can handle a lot of traffic, that’s okay.
Recently, there’ve been some massive DDoS attacks. For example, in March 2024, hackers went after French government services. You might even remember back in 2016 when a huge attack almost broke the internet for folks on the East Coast of the U.S.
Understanding and guarding against DDoS attacks is important for keeping the internet running smoothly. If you’re concerned about DDoS attacks and want to know more about how to protect your online presence, Diversified Outlook Group can help. You can reach out to them for guidance at support@diversifiedoutlookgroup.com.
For more in-depth information on DDoS attacks, check out this detailed article: www.csoonline.com/article/571981/ddos-attacks-definition-examples-and-techniques.html.
