DDoS attack is an abbreviation for Distributed Denial of Service, which translates to Distributed Denial of Service. This term means denial of service to a resource as a result of continuous requests. In other words, it is an attack on a system that aims to disable it.
As a result of a DDos attack, any Internet resource can be completely disabled - from a small business card site to the largest Internet portal. During a DDos attack, the site receives thousands of requests from users. This leads to an overload of the server, and subsequently, to its unavailability. The server does not have time to respond to a huge number of requests, which leads to its failure. Well-designed DDos attacks are chaotic in nature, which further complicates the operation of the resource.
A feature of DDos attacks is their handling from various nodes located in different parts of the world. This makes most methods of dealing with them ineffective, since overlapping a single node is not enough. Most often, attacks are carried out using Trojans, involving through them users who are not even aware of their participation in this process. Trojans penetrate unprotected computers of users and do not manifest themselves for a long time. Thus, the coverage area of DDos attacks can be almost unlimited, and requests can be sent from any part of the world.
A user's computer can be infected through a browser when visiting sites containing Trojans, installing unlicensed software, or receiving mail from unverified addresses. The actions of infected computers are often indistinguishable from the actions of users, which complicates the fight against them.
DDos attacks were first used in 1996. However, they began to pose a serious threat three years later, when hackers managed to disable the sites of companies such as Amazon, CNN, Yahoo and others. Now it is quite easy to order such an attack, but it is relatively inexpensive. The first at risk are commercial companies. Thus, it is enough to simply damage their activities, and if the attack is carried out during a high-budget Internet promotion campaign, the consequences can be catastrophic for the business owner.
DDos attack structure
Currently, the most popular are the so-called three-layer DDos attacks. During such attacks, the upper level is occupied by several control computers, from which control signals are sent. At the second level, there are control consoles that distribute signals to thousands or millions of user computers, which are the third level of the system. Users' computers send requests to Internet resources, which are the ultimate target of the attack. Due to this structure, it is impossible to trace the feedback, the maximum can be calculated one of the distribution consoles of the second level.
Methods for dealing with DDos attacks
To combat DDos attacks, a number of preventive measures should be taken to optimally configure the software and network software installed on the server, as well as provide all the necessary information to the hosting provider. Only in this case, there is a possibility of a quick and effective fight against a DDos attack.
