DDoS

DDoS, short for Distributed Denial of Service, refers to a distributed denial-of-service attack. A DDoS attack is defined as a cyberattack in which malicious actors use multiple devices to send an overwhelming volume of traffic to a target system, rendering the service unavailable. As a type of cyberattack, Distributed Denial of Service is carried out to exhaust the target system's resources, overwhelm its capacity, and make the service inaccessible. Therefore, the question "What is DDoS?" can be answered as a cyberattack that uses multiple devices to overwhelm a target system with excessive traffic, preventing it from providing service. The following list explains how DDoS attacks operate.

• Resource Exhaustion: During a DDoS attack, the target server and network resources are forced to process a large number of fake or malicious requests. As a result, system resources can be depleted in a short period of time.
• Capacity Overload: During the attack, both the processing capacity and internet bandwidth of the target server may become insufficient to handle the resulting high volume of traffic.
• Restricted or Blocked Access: As all of this occurs, legitimate users may be unable to access the website or application, resulting in service disruption.

How Can You Protect Against DDoS Attacks?

Why does the DDoS acronym include the term "Distributed"? Unlike DoS attacks, DDoS attacks are carried out using numerous devices located in different parts of the world rather than a single device. These devices are typically coordinated through a botnet consisting of systems compromised by the attacker. For this reason, the attack is referred to as a Distributed Denial of Service attack. So, how can you protect against these attacks? Here are the steps!

• Cloud-Based Protection: Route the traffic of your website or digital assets through enterprise-grade, cloud-based DDoS protection and Content Delivery Network (CDN) services.
• Monitoring: Continuously monitor your network traffic to detect unusual traffic spikes and anomalies at an early stage.
• Load Balancing: Instead of directing incoming requests to a single server, distribute them across multiple servers to ensure balanced utilization of system resources and prevent any single server from becoming overloaded.
• Use a WAF: A Web Application Firewall (WAF) can analyze HTTP/HTTPS requests and protect your web applications from malicious traffic. Therefore, do not neglect the deployment of a WAF.
• Close Unnecessary Ports: By closing unused network ports, you can reduce your attack surface and minimize potential security risks.

For more information on this topic, you can read our blog post titled What Are DoS and DDoS? Protection Methods for Cloud Systems.