This is a huge problem if you’re running a website or blog. Distributed Denial of Service Attack or DDoS can occur on almost any computer or website. When an attack of this nature occurs it can severely alter the function of a website and computer. In this article I am going to discuss what a DDos is, how it hurts your site, how to spot an attack, and some common types of attacks.
What Is A DDoS?
An attack of this kind can occur when a computer hacker uses a network of computers to attack a particular website. A Distributed Denial of Service Attack can be launched and executed quite easily.
Some well known victims of such an attack were Yahoo, Microsoft, CNN and many others. There are some options available in an attempt to reverse a serious attack of this magnitude.
How It Hurts
Organizers of such attacks normally target high profile web servers such as financial institutions as well as credit card payment establishments. Basically, the attacker will cause server overloads which in turn will cause the entire website to malfunction and shut down all together.
Distributed Denial of Service Attacks are considered to be a serious violation of Internet Proper Usage Policy. Internet Proper Usage Policies are designed to protect almost anyone who has a server and website on the World Wide Web.
Spotting A DDoS
It is important to be able to identify some of the signs that your website may be under attack. First, if you notice that your website is running slow this could be a sure sign of a DDoS attack. In addition, computer or website crashes can be a clear indication that something is seriously wrong. Also, when the computer screen freezes this could signal trouble.
Essentially, when you are no longer able to access any website at all then you know you have been the victim of an Distributed Denial of Service Attack. Routing information may also be disrupted during a DDoS attack.
Normally during a DDoS attack an unusually large amount of bandwidth is being consumed. Once large amounts of bandwidth are consumed it can automatically cause significant harm to your computer.
Types of DDoS Attacks
- A Mailbomb can be a clear indicator that a website may be under serious attack. A Mailbomb is when excessive email causes an email server to crash completely.
- A Ping Flood is another method used to launch a successful attack. A Ping Flood involves sending the victim an unusually large amount of Ping packets. When too many Ping packets are sent it will essentially overwhelm the system causing a crash.
- A Teardrop attack is also used on occasion. The Teardrop attack will also cause a computer crash. Several computer operating systems can be affected when this method is used because it creates a computer bug within the IP re-assembly code.
A few options exist in an attempt to get your computer up and running following an attack. First, you can limit the amount of traffic allowed on a specific server. In addition, you can try to locate the origin of the attack and then filter all traffic from that point.
Computers are used each and every day for both business and personal use. However, when a malfunction occurs it may take a great deal of time and effort in an attempt to fix the computer following a serious computer attack.
This article was written by David Williams who has over 17 years of experience working in the IT field. His business can be found at http://www.keyspace.com.au/ which provides a plethora of IT security services to small to medium sized businesses.
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