You’ve probably heard of a DDoS attack before. However, as you have probably not yet been the victim of a DDoS attack yourself, you probably don’t know exactly what a DDoS attack is. For this reason, we want to explain to you in this short article what a DDoS attack is and what happens during it. We will also tell you about the different types of DDoS attacks and explain what makes a DDoS attack so insidious. Finally, you will also find out how you can protect yourself from a DDoS attack. Because this is a serious threat to websites and servers. As the security and functionality of your web projects is important to us at FireStorm, we want to report on DDoS attacks today. – So enjoy reading this article!

DDoS attacks pose a serious threat to websites and servers. In this article you will learn everything you need to know about DDoS attacks.

What are DDoS attacks and how do they actually work?

DDoS attacks are not uncommon and have already taken down major websites such as eBay and Amazon in the past. But what exactly is behind these attacks and how do they differ from conventional DoS attacks?

The difference between DoS and DDoS briefly explained

Denial-of-Service (DoS)

In a DoS attack, the target, be it a website or a server, is put out of action. This is often done by exploiting vulnerabilities in programs or operating systems. Some DoS attacks simply overload the server with a flood of simultaneous requests, causing it to crash. There are different types of DoS attacks, as we will briefly explain below before moving on to DDoS attacks:

Syn Flooding

In this attack, hackers attempt to attack a computer system with fake sender addresses by pretending to establish connections. As the target cannot reach the fake computer, there is a flood of connection attempts that make the target unreachable.

Ping Flooding

Attackers send a large number of pings to determine whether a computer in the network is accessible. The attacked system is forced to answer the pings, which leads to an overload and, in the worst case, a crash.

Mailbombing

In this case, a mail server is bombarded with a large number of emails. These overload the mail account and slow down the server or cause it to crash.

Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS)

DDoS attacks are far more dangerous, as they are distributed DoS attacks. Numerous systems are attacked simultaneously. This is often done by botnets that are controlled by hackers. These bots send masses of requests to the target, leading to overload and system failure.

While DoS attacks are “normal” attempts to put a website or server out of action, DDoS attacks are distributed and therefore even more dangerous DoS attacks.

What makes DDoS attacks so insidious

DDoS attacks are particularly insidious, as the hackers cleverly conceal their tracks. The target computers must first receive and analyze the data, which already makes the attack successful. Falsified IP addresses make it even more difficult to identify the attackers.

Everything you need to know about protection against DDoS attacks

As web hosting provider FireStorm, we provide you with the best possible protection against DDoS attacks. We have special systems that intercept most DDoS attacks. We also keep all hardware and software up to date to minimize vulnerabilities. We also take care of backups and security updates to further protect the systems. You can also take these measures yourself. However, you should be aware that the threat of DDoS attacks is real and there is no guaranteed protection against them.

DDoS attacks are dangerous cyberattacks from which you cannot protect yourself 100 percent. Nevertheless, as a web hosting provider, we take the most important security measures to protect your web projects.