DoS and DDoS Attacks: Common Targets and Precautions

What is a Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attack?

A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is a type of cyberattack that aims to disrupt the availability of digital resources. This attack is accomplished by flooding the targeted network with traffic, causing it to crash or become unresponsive. The duration of such attacks can range from several hours to several months, causing significant losses of time and money for affected companies and individuals.

How Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks Work?

DoS attacks are becoming increasingly common as businesses and individuals rely more on digital platforms to communicate and conduct transactions. Cyberattacks may be launched with the intent to steal personally identifiable information (PII), resulting in significant financial and reputational damage to targeted companies. These attacks may be aimed at a single company or multiple companies at once, with attackers using a DoS approach to overwhelm their targets.

It is essential for companies to implement robust security measures to protect against DoS attacks, as well as to educate their employees on how to identify and respond to potential security threats. Failure to do so may result in severe consequences, including regulatory fines, loss of customer trust, and reputational damage.

Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks are a common form of cyberattack that can cause a server to become unavailable, resulting in a loss of service. 

These attacks can be divided into two categories, as follows: 

Buffer Overflow Attacks 

Buffer overflow attacks exploit a vulnerability in a system and cause a memory buffer overflow in a machine, which can lead to sluggish behavior, system crashes, or other harmful server behaviors. 

Flood Attacks

Flood attacks, on the other hand, involve a malicious actor sending an overwhelming number of packets to saturate a targeted server’s bandwidth, resulting in a denial of service.

In a typical DoS attack, cyber attackers use one internet connection and one device to flood the target server with many requests to overload its bandwidth. They exploit a software vulnerability in the system and proceed to exhaust the RAM or CPU of the server. Fortunately, the damage caused by DoS attacks can be fixed by implementing a firewall with allow/deny rules. By identifying the IP address of the attacker, which is usually one, the firewall can deny further access to the server.

However, there is a type of DoS attack that is difficult to detect and prevent: a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. In this type of attack, multiple devices infected with malware are used to flood a targeted server with requests, making it difficult to block the traffic by simply denying one IP address.

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attack

A type of cyber attack that is common nowadays is the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The attacker aims to inundate the target with unwanted internet traffic to the extent that the regular traffic cannot reach its intended destination. The perpetrator uses hordes of infected connected devices like smartphones, PCs, network servers, and Internet of Things devices worldwide to attack a targeted website, network, web application, application programming interface, or data center infrastructure simultaneously to block traffic.

The sources of attack traffic are often in the form of a botnet, which is a network of personal devices that have been compromised by cybercriminals without the knowledge of the devices’ owners. Hackers infect computers with malicious software to gain control of the system to send spam and fake requests to other devices and servers. As a result, a target server that falls victim to a DDoS attack will experience an overload due to the hundreds or thousands of phony traffic requests that come into it.

It is difficult to detect all the addresses from which the server is attacked since it is attacked from multiple sources. Moreover, separating legitimate traffic from fake traffic may also prove impossible, making it hard for a server to withstand a DDoS attack.

Why Are DDoS Attacks Launched?

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a type of cyberattack aimed at making websites and their services unavailable to users. However, cybercriminals may also use DDoS attacks as a smokescreen to carry out other malicious activities. After successfully knocking down the servers, attackers may try to gain access to the websites’ security systems or weaken their defenses for future attacks.

DDoS attacks can also be used as a digital supply chain attack. In such cases, attackers may target a weak link in the security systems that are connected to multiple websites. By attacking the weak link, they can indirectly affect all the primary targets. This makes it essential for organizations to have robust security measures to prevent such attacks.

Differences Between DDoS and DOS Attacks

In the world of cybersecurity, DoS and DDoS attacks are two commonly used terms. The primary difference between these two attacks lies in the number of connections utilized to carry out the attack. DoS attacks involve a single connection, whereas DDoS attacks involve many sources of attack traffic, often in the form of a botnet. 

While some DoS attacks, like Slowloris, are simple but effective, DDoS attacks can be much more complex and difficult to mitigate. However, both types of attacks can be prevented with the right security measures in place.

What do Cyber-Attackers Target?

Here are some examples of cyber attackers’ different goals. They may seek:

• Intellectual property, such as trade secrets and product designs
• Financial data (business and customer)
• Email address and login credentials
• IT infrastructure access
• Sensitive personal data
• Customer databases, including personally identifiable information (PII)
• U.S. government departments and agencies

The Bottom Line

Denial of service attacks are a type of cyber assault that hackers use to disrupt internet services for a particular objective, including extortion, theft, political activism, or simply for amusement. Due to these attacks and a variety of other security concerns, it is crucial to employ up-to-date hardware and software in both personal and professional life. 

Similarly, businesses must also have the latest technology to safeguard their data. If feasible, business owners are advised to engage the services of a cybersecurity firm to ensure the most current security measures are in place for their organization and clients.