DoS and DDoS Concepts
In today’s fully digitalized world, uninterrupted service delivery is undoubtedly a factor that directly impacts corporate reputation. However, there are several threats that can disrupt this continuity. One of the most common types of these threats is DoS and DDoS attacks. All the key details about DoS, short for Denial of Service, and its more advanced version DDoS, short for Distributed Denial of Service, are covered in this article!
To better understand DoS/DDoS attacks, we should first clarify what these terms mean: DoS (Denial of Service): A DoS attack is a type of cyberattack that aims to overwhelm a target system with an excessive amount of traffic from a single source, causing the system to become unable to respond to legitimate user requests. The attacker sends an abnormal volume of requests to the server, exhausting resources and making the service unavailable. DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service): A DDoS attack is the distributed form of this method. The attack is performed simultaneously through multiple devices and networks, multiplying the impact of a traditional DoS attack. This makes single-point mitigation almost impossible. DDoS attacks are typically executed using botnets, which consist of thousands of compromised devices.
Differences Between DoS and DDoS
While DoS and DDoS attacks share the same goal—taking systems offline—they differ significantly in terms of execution, scale, and impact. DoS attacks are “single-source” threats, whereas DDoS attacks are distributed and coordinated. This makes DDoS attacks both more destructive and more complex to defend against. To better understand the difference between DoS and DDoS, you may refer to the table below:
| Feature | DoS (Denial of Service) | DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) |
|---|---|---|
| Attack Source | Initiated from a single device or network. | Launched from multiple compromised devices (botnet) in a distributed manner. |
| Attack Power | Relatively limited. | Can generate extremely high traffic volumes. |
| Ease of Mitigation | Easier to detect and block since it comes from a single source. | Difficult to detect and filter due to numerous IP sources. |
| Targeted Layer | Typically targets the network or application layer. | Can simultaneously target network, DNS, application, and database layers. |
| Defense Requirements | Basic firewalls or traffic limiting may be sufficient. | Requires advanced load balancing, traffic analysis, and FWaaS solutions. |
| Impact | May cause short-term service interruptions. | May result in prolonged downtime and financial loss. |