DDoS attacks can cause untold damage to companies. The aim of DDoS attacks is to take a company’s most essential resources offline. The attack can even have a waterfall effect in which taking down one company results in other companies being harmed.
For instance, in 2016, hundreds of thousands of Internet of Things devices were leveraged to send requests to a service provider’s servers, which resulted in bringing down the likes of Amazon and Twitter. Let’s find out more about what happens during a DDoS attack.
What happens during DDoS attacks?
A DDoS attack works by sending too many requests to an online resource in order to force the platform offline. Attackers take advantage of a vast network of computers to achieve that, including ones that they have taken over via the use of malware. A cybercriminal doesn’t have to install any of his or her code onto a victim’s server. Instead, the compromised devices the attacker uses send millions of pings, as though the thousands of machines are trying to connect to the service at the same time.
Even if a DDoS attack is unsuccessful at bringing down an online platform, while the attack is going on, users of the platform can find the site is incredibly slow or inaccessible. Because all of the devices the attacker is using have different IP addresses, companies need to implement sophisticated defenses that go beyond blocking all offending IP addresses.
Thankfully, DDoS server protection tools are available to help prevent DDoS attacks from happening.
Different Types of DDoS Attacks
While there are various types of DDoS attacks, there are three main DDoS attack methods hackers use. Here is a brief overview of each.
Volume-based Attacks
A volume-based attack is the name for the standard DDoS attack described above. It involves a hacker sending as many requests as possible, in a certain timeframe, to cause captured devices to produce pings and take down the victim company’s online platform.
Networking-layer DDoS Attacks
Also known as protocol attacks, networking-layer DDoS attacks are directed at the infrastructure behind a network. Basically, a networking-layer DDoS attack concerns packets of information more than raw bits.
Application-layer Attacks
Instead of compromising the infrastructure that powers software tools, application-layer attacks affect apps directly. Hackers use their network of devices to continually request access to an app’s services. That creates too much traffic, which results in bringing down the software.
Other DDoS Attack Types
There are other types of DDoS attacks. Two less-common ones are flooding attacks and crashing attacks. With the former, the hacker attempts to use an overwhelming flood of data to bring a server down.
The hacker can achieve that by sending data packets to affect a group of connected devices, which is known as an ICMP flood, or by using uncompleted handshakes between a host, a server, and a user to fill up every port of the target server, which is known as an SYN flood. A crashing attack is one of the least common DDoS attack types.
It involves barraging a compromised system with bugs to create a weakness in the targeted element of the infrastructure. The system crashes when the unpatched flaws are exploited.
How do you prevent DDoS attacks?
Businesses need to employ IT professionals to ensure everything that can be done to prevent a DDoS attack is being done continually. There are several ways in which online sites can gain protection against DDoS attacks. First and foremost, you need to have a solid attack response plan in place.
Equip your infrastructure, network, and applications with multi-level protections, including prevention management systems that combine firewalls, anti-spam, VPN, content filtering, and other security measures. You should also regularly perform network vulnerability assessments.