Introduction to DDoS Attacks

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal functioning of a network, service, website, or online platform by overwhelming it with a flood of traffic from multiple sources.

These attacks are "distributed" because they typically involve a network of compromised computers (often referred to as a botnet) that coordinate to flood the target with traffic.

The sheer volume of traffic exhausts the target's resources, rendering it inaccessible to legitimate users.

Defense Against DDoS Attacks

DDoS Mitigation Services

Consider using a DDoS mitigation service or appliance that can detect and filter out malicious traffic before it reaches your network or server.

Traffic Analysis and Monitoring

Implement traffic analysis tools to detect abnormal traffic patterns and identify potential DDoS attacks early.

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Use a CDN to distribute website content across multiple servers and locations, reducing the impact of DDoS attacks by absorbing traffic.

Scalability

Ensure that your infrastructure is scalable and can handle sudden traffic spikes. Load balancing can distribute traffic evenly across multiple servers.

Rate Limiting

Implement rate limiting and traffic shaping to control the rate at which incoming traffic is processed.

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Use a WAF to filter out malicious traffic and protect against application layer DDoS attacks.

Anomaly Detection

Deploy intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) to detect unusual or suspicious traffic patterns.