What is an example of a DDoS attack?
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Distributed Network Attacks are often referred to as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. This type of attack takes advantage of the specific capacity limits that apply to any network resources – such as the infrastructure that enables a company’s website. The DDoS attack will send multiple requests to the attacked web resource – with the aim of exceeding the website’s capacity to handle multiple requests… and prevent the website from functioning correctly. Typical targets for DDoS attacks include:
How a DDoS attack worksNetwork resources – such as web servers – have a finite limit to the number of requests that they can service simultaneously. In addition to the capacity limit of the server, the channel that connects the server to the Internet will also have a finite bandwidth / capacity. Whenever the number of requests exceeds the capacity limits of any component of the infrastructure, the level of service is likely to suffer in one of the following ways:
Usually, the attacker’s ultimate aim is the total prevention of the web resource’s normal functioning – a total ‘denial of service’. The attacker may also request payment for stopping the attack. In some cases, a DDoS attack may even be an attempt to discredit or damage a competitor’s business. Using a Botnet ‘zombie network’ to deliver a DDoS attackIn order to send an extremely large number of requests to the victim resource, the cybercriminal will often establish a ‘zombie network’ of computers that the criminal has infected. Because the criminal has control over the actions of every infected computer in the zombie network, the sheer scale of the attack can be overwhelming for the victim’s web resources. The nature of today’s DDoS threatsIn the early to mid-2000s, this kind of criminal activity was quite common. However, the number of successful DDoS attacks has been reducing. This decrease in DDoS attacks is likely to have resulted from the following:
Distributed Network Attacks are often referred to as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. This type of attack takes advantage of the specific capacity limits that apply to any network resources – such as the infrastructure that enables a company’s website...
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a cyberattack, sourced from a distributed network, that aims to deny responses from your services. A DDoS attack aims to render your services unresponsive by overwhelming your systems with illegitimate requests. More and more businesses and site owners are asking themselves, what is DDoS? They’ve seen other companies fall prey to a cyberattack and want to know how to prevent it from happening to them. In February 2020, Amazon Web Services was hit by a massive DDoS attack that lasted almost three days, also impacting countless other publishers and site owners that rely on AWS. The targeted IP address saw an increase of 56-70 times the amount of data normally sent. In 2018, GitHub was hit with the largest DDoS attack recorded at that time. Despite flooding GitHub’s servers with 1.3 terabytes per second (Tbps) of data and 126.9 packets per second (Pps), the attack only took GitHub offline for 20 minutes due to Github’s strong DDoS protection measures. This highly variable level of efficacy and risk shows that companies must prioritize mitigating damage from potential DDoS attacks. These cyberattacks are only growing as more traffic comes online and sensitive data and services continue to hold value. In this post, we’ll cover the following areas along the lines of what is DDoS:
Perhaps the most important aspect of protection against DDoS is early detection. If your organization can identify the DDoS attack early on, you can take steps to mitigate the damage, limit traffic, and improve security going forward. How to Detect a DDoS AttackSo, what is DDoSing, and how can you detect it? A DDoS is what happens when your servers, website, applications, infrastructure, or other assets are flooded with requests from malicious actors attempting to bring down or take your services offline. While security measures vary across hosting solutions, even the most hardened dedicated server hosting may still be vulnerable to a DDoS attack. It can be difficult to determine when a DDoS attack is occurring as opposed to a legitimate failure of service. DDoS attacks can often appear as legitimate traffic or downed servers. In order to identify an attack with certainty, further investigation with analytics tools can help spot some of the signs of DDoS:
Detecting DDoS is also about awareness and making sure you’re familiar with some examples of attacks. Let’s break down several types of DDoS attacks to show how DDoS protection does work. Examples of DDoS AttacksWhat is DDoS in the real world? We already mentioned some of the high-profile attacks on Amazon and GitHub. These real-world examples can give us a better idea of what’s trending amongst cybercriminals and how we can bolster DDoS protection in the future. One of the first recorded DDoS attacks occurred in 2000 when a teenage hacker by the pseudonym “MafiaBoy” was able to flood a number of universities and businesses with overwhelming traffic. It’s fair to say that DDoS has evolved exponentially since that time, and it’s still affecting major industries today. Only months after the February 2020 cyberattack against AWS, Google revealed details of a DDoS attack targeting their services and registering even higher at 2.6 Tbps. Companies of all sizes are at risk from this growing cyber threat. DDoS attacks can be categorized into three main groups based on what layer of service they target: volumetric attacks, protocol attacks, and application attacks. Let’s examine each one and understand how they might affect a site with VPS DDoS protection. Volumetric AttacksVolumetric attacks are perpetrated when massive quantities of illegitimate traffic overwhelm your server, website, or other resources. Also known as volume-based attacks, volumetric attacks are measured in bits per second (BPS). Several types of volumetric attacks include User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), and junk flood attacks. So simply put, what is a DDoS attack when it is volume-based? Volumetric attacks are like a traffic jam. Imagine going to work and pulling onto the on-ramp only to see that every lane on the highway is bumper-to-bumper with cars. You’re stuck and can’t get access to the road. Unlike a traffic jam, however, traffic doesn’t just wait in line. Users will see the dreaded “No Connection Error,” or the load times will slow to the point of causing frustration, causing users to abandon their original request. Protocol AttacksProtocol attacks occur when your infrastructure, or parts of your infrastructure, is flooded with excessive numbers of packets. Also known as network-layer attacks, protocol DDoS attacks are measured in packets per second (Pps). Different types of protocol attacks include Smurf DDoS, TCP Connection Attacks, or TCP SYN Floods. SYN Floods (also known as TCP Connection Attacks) target what’s called a three-way handshake connection. This common TCP connection point is the vulnerability the attack exploits. During an SYN Flood, a “handshake” request is sent to a targeted server, but it’s never completed. The targeted port is then unavailable to respond to any requests. The attack spreads from there as more and more requests are sent until servers go down. Application-Layer AttacksAn answer to – What is DDoS? – wouldn’t be complete without a look at the attacks’ effects on applications. Application-layer attacks overwhelm applications with malicious requests, affecting the layer of service where web pages are generated, and HTTP requests are made. These application DDoS attacks are measured in requests per second (RPS). Application-layer attacks tend to advance in a slower fashion than traditional volumetric attacks. This slower rate allows the requests to appear legitimate until they have sufficiently overwhelmed an application. It’s important to remember that these different types of attacks often work in tandem with each other. It’s rare that a cybercriminal will focus all their efforts on one endpoint. For example, an initial application-layer attack may be followed by a volumetric attack. Site owners must play defense on all endpoints to ensure the detection of each type of DDoS attack. How to Protect Against a DDoS AttackSo far, we’ve answered – what is a DDoS Attack? And we’ve looked at different types of attacks and detection. But how does DDoS protection work? When it comes to protecting your server from a potential DDoS attack, it’s important to be vigilant from a proactive perspective. Some useful concepts to consider in the realm of DDoS protection include:
Liquid Web’s DDoS Protection Services can help your site stay protected from cyberattacks that could cost you data and resources. Stay ahead of the growing trend of DDoS attack prevalence with managed hosting solutions from Liquid Web. Need Help Securing Your Entire Infrastructure? Download Your Security Infrastructure Checklist for SMBs.What are the 3 types of DDoS attacks?Three broad types of DDoS attacks are as follows.. Application layer attacks. The application layer is where the server generates the response to an incoming client request. ... . Protocol attacks. ... . Volumetric attacks.. What is the most common DDoS attack?Common DDoS attacks types. SYN Flood.. Ping of Death.. Slowloris.. NTP Amplification.. HTTP Flood.. Zero-day DDoS Attacks.. Volume Based Attacks. ... . Protocol Attacks.. What is DoS and DDoS attack with example?Difference between DOS and DDOS attack. |