A conventional denial of service attack relies on using one internet-connected device to saturate a target server’s bandwidth and render a website unusable.

A DDoS attack is very similar to a DoS attack, except instead of relying on one device it uses multiple (hundreds or even thousands) of internet-connected devices distributed around the world to carry out the attack. These devices typically take the form of a botnet (otherwise known as a zombie army), a group of machines that have been infected with a type of malware which grants the hacker the ability to control the compromised machines remotely. The distributed nature of a DDoS attack makes it difficult to stop as there are simply too many sources to block.

How does a DDoS attack work?

While there are a few different types of DDoS attacks (more on that later), they all share a similar goal: disrupting the operations of a specific website and making it inaccessible or dysfunctional to regular users.

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