The number of DDOS attacks has been increasing over the years due to a lack of precaution on the part of some companies. This hinders the accessibility of the victimised services and prevents users from making proper use of them. So how does this attack work and how do you know if you are a victim? What are the consequences? Read this article to find out more.
How a DDOS attack works
The basic aim of a DDOS or distributed denial of service attack is to disrupt the normal functioning of traffic either on a network or on a server. Hence the need for Hosting with DDOS protection. Indeed, the DDOS process is such that the various attacks are executed from networks of machines connected to the Internet. Made up of certain equipment and computers, the networks are infected by malware or hackers. Thus, hackers are able to manage and control the networks remotely.
All these hacking and attacking devices are called "bot" and "botnet" when it comes to a set of bot. So, to attack a server, the hackers give instructions to the botnet through a remote control. As a result, the botnet sends programmed requests to the IP address of the targeted server. This saturates the network and triggers a denial of service of the traffic.
Warning signs of a DDOS attack
To know if your network or server is under DDOS attack, there are a few warning signs. The most alarming and obvious sign is the sudden unavailability of a service. Apart from this symptom, it is also possible to see large suspicious volumes of traffic coming from a single IP address page. In addition, there is an increase in unidentified requests at an endpoint and the appearance of several foreign traffic patterns.
Furthermore, in order to better diagnose the problem, it seems important to use analysis tools. Especially since the signs may vary according to the types of DDOS attacks given their specificity. Indeed, there are various categories of such an attack which have their own objective, mode of operation and direct consequence. These include application layer attacks, protocol attacks and volumetric attacks.
All in all, the DDOS attack is a threat to the proper functioning of the Internet supply structure of a given organisation. It is therefore essential to put in place a number of protective measures to be safe from such an attack.