By Natasha Lomas, 14 November 2006 12:30
NEWS
DDoS
A denial of service (DoS) attack aims to render a web resource unavailable to its everyday users. It works by flooding a web server with more requests to serve a webpage than it can handle - meaning that during the attack period the hosted site will be dramatically slower to load or may not load at all. Another type of DoS attack - known as an 'email bomb' - targets an organisation's servers by sending more email than the systems can handle.
Security from A to Z
Click on the links below to find out more...
A is for Antivirus
B is for Botnets
C is for CMA
D is for DDoS
E is for Extradition
F is for Federated identity
G is for Google
H is for Hackers
I is for IM
J is for Jaschan (Sven)
K is for Kids
L is for Love Bug
M is for Microsoft
N is for Neologisms
O is for Orange
P is for Passwords
Q is for Questions
R is for Rootkits
S is for Spyware
T is for Two-factor authentication
U is for USB sticks/devices
V is for Virus variants
W is for Wi-fi
X is for OS X
Y is for You
Z is for Zero-day
A distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) means multiple compromised PCs are used to overwhelm a website's bandwidth or resources. The machines used in such attacks are collectively known as a botnet or zombie network and will have previously been infected with malware - meaning they can be remote-controlled by the attacker.
The cyber criminal fraternity uses denial of service attacks as a weapon to blackmail ecommerce businesses, which rely on their websites being accessible in order to make money. Online gambling sites are popular targets - due to the nature of their business and the lure of ready money. But attacks are not always financially motivated - perpetrators can simply be seeking to cause disruption or make a name for themselves.
Comments
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1. Pedro
I have found a small program that do the excellent job. It cleans all the worms, Trojans and every other suspicious file and protect the utility from afterwards intrusions.