DDoS Attack: Overview
DDoS, or Distributed Denial of Service, is a cyberattack where hackers flood a user’s server with malicious internet traffic. It is one of the most powerful types of cyberattacks because it uses multiple compromised systems as sources to attack the targeted server.
This attack generally leads to a website crash, which affects the user’s business significantly. As far as the motivation is concerned, generally, these attacks are carried out to take down competition or to gain financial benefits.
One of the main differences between DDoS and any other type of cyberattack is that it doesn’t aim to breach security parameters. It is done mainly to shut down systems and cause disruption, as a successfully executed DDoS attack can cause significant damage.
What are the Different Types of DDoS Attacks?
There are various types of Distributed Denial of Service attacks that are differentiated based on the part of networks they attack. Check out some of these types below.
- Volume-based (Volumetric) Attacks
- Protocol Attacks
- Application-layer Attacks
A volume-based DDoS attack aims to target the bandwidth of the victim’s site. In this attack, the hacker consumes the bandwidth to send a large amount of data, creating massive traffic on the victim’s site.
These attacks are also known as state-exhaustion attacks, which cause a major disruption by consuming available server resources and network equipment, including firewalls. In this, the attackers send TCP handshake requests, which are spoofed IP addresses.
Application-layer attacks are designed to target the layers where web pages are generated on the server and respond to HTTP requests. These initially do seem like legitimate requests, which makes it one of the most common types of DDoS attacks.
Major Consequences of a Distributed Denial of Service Attack
DDoS attacks can cause significant harm to companies across industries, regardless of how big or small they are. Some of the common consequences of this attack include:
- Financial Losses
- Poor Operational Efficiency
- Reputational Damage
Whenever an attacker carries out a successful DDoS attack, one of the biggest consequences is negative cash flow. Since this attack increases the website’s downtime and reduces productivity, it significantly affects the business’s profitability.
As a Distributed Denial of Service attack disrupts the overall workflow, it causes ineffective operational efficiency. It breaks down the routine operational process flow along with all communication channels, including the ones with the customers.
Given the fact that a DDoS attack leads to frequent downtime of the user’s website, it directly affects the business’s reputation. Prolonged downtime gives customers the impression that this business is not reliable, and thus they might go for other options.
Prevention Strategies for DDoS Attacks
The best way to keep the threats of DDoS at bay is to comprehend and follow reliable risk mitigation strategies. We have listed some of these important prevention tips for you here.
- Web Application Firewalls
- Regular Risk Assessments
- Rate Limiting
Simply relying on your standard firewalls for protection is not enough. You need to switch to web application firewalls to protect your network from any security vulnerability. WAFs are designed to make sure each request is safe before passing it on to the server.
Regardless of whether you have encountered a cyber threat or not, you should conduct regular risk assessments. These will allow you to identify if there is any security threat lurking around or if there is any gap in your cybersecurity policies.
You can also reduce the risk of a DDoS attack by limiting the number of requests a server can accept. A rate-limiting mitigation strategy might not be capable of blocking a DDoS attack on its own, but it sure proves valuable in keeping the threat away from your system.