What Does a DDoS Attack Mean?
DDoS stands for Distributed denial of service, it’s a subclass of denial of service (DoS) attacks. The DDoS attack involves multiple connected online devices and uses them to saturate a target website with fake traffic.
Unlike other kinds of cyberattacks, where the hackers attempt to breach the site’s security perimeters. DDoS attack aims to make websites and servers unavailable to legal users. Hackers can also use DDoS as a cover for other malicious activities. This makes it a popular weapon of choice for hackers and cyber troublemakers.
DDoS attacks can come in short bursts or repeat assaults, but either way, the impact on a website or business can last for days, weeks, and even months. This can make DDoS extremely destructive to any online organization. Amongst other things, DDoS attacks can lead to loss of revenues, erode consumer trust, force businesses to spend fortunes in compensations, and cause long-term reputation damage.
Reasons for DDoSing:
Denial of service attacks can be launched by individuals, businesses, and even nation-states, each with its own motivation.
The motive of a DDoS attack can be some kind of competition between businesses or individuals. Even if a person may not have skills in hacking. DDoS attacks are now available for hire and can be executed for a fairly low price on the dark market. Also, political conflict, like the cyberwar between two or more nations could provoke those kinds of attacks. Admit it or not, the internet becomes a new battlefield where entities and nations try to show off dominance over their rivals.
Even on a personal level, gamers can resort to this tactic to settle scores or to disrupt online competitions. This occurs in the context of multiplayer online games. where players launch DDoS barrages against one another, and sometimes against gaming servers, to gain an edge or to avoid imminent defeat.
Attacks against players are often DoS assaults, executed with widely available malicious software. Conversely, attacks against gaming servers are likely to be DDoS assaults.
