DDoS Attacks – Jargon Buster

In the latest in our series of quick cyber security jargon busters, we give the low down on DDoS attacks.

In a DOS attack, a hacker will use their computer and program to flood the victim’s server with fraudulent data traffic. This might be against an organisation that the attacker dislikes or wishes to disrupt, and will affect its ability to serve real customers. A DoS attack is an attack that comes from just one source, so normally it’s pretty easy to handle. The server can simply close the connection where the attack is coming from.

A DDoS attack, however, floods the server from multiple sources simultaneously. And this is a real problem. One lead computer can communicate with malware-infected machines around the world to coordinate an attack on a server. This will eat up the system resources such as memory as well as network bandwidth. This means that the legitimate users or customers on the site will be denied service while the system is trying to deal with the attack.

There are steps you and your team can take to minimise the chance of a DDoS attack, such as developing a denial of service response plan and practising basic network security. 

If you have any questions on DDoS attacks or anything else to do with your organisation’s cyber security, get in touch using the form below or email info@securious.co.uk.