A DoS attack (denial-of-service) is a cyberattack that aims to stop a computer from providing its intended user with the necessary resources. This is usually done by flooding the target system with traffic, requests to service, and other actions that eat its resources until it stops providing the intended service. DoS attacks can be performed using one computer or a large number of compromised devices. They can also target entire networks, servers, and websites.
DoS attacks can have severe consequences for individuals and organizations. They can disrupt business operations and reputations, as well as cause financial losses. They can also cause disruption to essential services like emergency communication systems or power grids. This can have serious implications for national security and public safety.
There are many types of DoS attacks.
- Flooding attacks: This attack involves flooding the target with traffic and requests. Often, multiple devices or networks are used. SYN floods and UDP floods are examples.
- Protocol attacks: These attacks take advantage of vulnerabilities in network protocols like TCP and HTTP to disrupt service. Examples of these attacks include teardrop attacks or ping-of-death attacks.
- Application-level attacks are attacks that target specific services or applications, such as email servers or web servers. They overwhelm them with requests, or exploit vulnerabilities in their code. HTTP floods, slowloris attacks are two examples.
- DDoS attacks (distributed denial-of-service): These attacks use multiple devices or networks to attack. DDoS attacks are more difficult to defend because they can generate large volumes of traffic from many sources.
There are many types of DDoS attacks.
- Volume-based attacks: These are attacks that flood the target with traffic. Often, multiple devices and networks are used. SYN floods and UDP floods are examples.
- Protocol attacks: These attacks take advantage of vulnerabilities in network protocols like TCP and HTTP to disrupt service. Examples of these attacks include teardrop attacks or ping-of-death attacks.
- Application-level attacks are attacks that target specific services or applications, such as email servers or web servers. They overwhelm them with requests, or exploit vulnerabilities in their code. HTTP floods, slowloris attacks are two examples.
- Hybrid attacks are attacks that combine several types of attacks such as protocol and volume-based attacks to increase their effectiveness.
There are many tools and techniques that can be used to launch DoS attacks, such as botnets and malware. Botnets can be defined as networks of compromised devices controlled by an attacker that can be used for DoS attacks. Botnets can be created or launched directly by malware. Spoofed traffic is a fake traffic source that appears to be legitimate. This makes it difficult to trace the attacker.
DDoS attacks and DoS attacks differ in that DoS attacks can only be launched from one device or network. DDoS attacks can be launched from multiple devices, networks, or both. DDoS attacks are more potent and harder to defend against that DoS attacks.
Cloudflare provides a variety of DDoS protection services to help protect against such attacks. Cloudflare can help protect against DDoS attacks in the following ways:
- Cloudflare has a global network of data centers, which are designed to protect against DDoS attacks. This network can absorb large volumes of traffic and redirect it away to the targeted system to help prevent it being overwhelmed by an attack.
- Cloudflare’s traffic management uses a range of techniques, including traffic shaping, rate limiting and traffic scrubbing, to manage traffic and protect itself against DDoS attacks. These techniques ensure only legitimate traffic is allowed to the targeted system while filtering or blocking out any malicious traffic.
- Cloudflare offers network security, including encryption and authentication to protect against DDoS attacks as well as other cyber threats.
- Cloudflare network monitoring: Cloudflare monitors the activity and traffic on the network in real-time using machine learning and advanced technologies to detect and mitigate DDoS attacks.
Cloudflare’s DDoS protection service can be used by organizations to help protect their networks and systems against attacks, and to ensure that their users are always able to access them.