How does DDoS work

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service Attack) attacks are one of the most frequently occurring cyber-attacks. A DDoS attacker’s whole purpose is to make service undelivered. They make use of the DDoS attack tools and get access to your servers, devices, networks, etc. These tools are capable enough to get access to howsoever strong or well protected your network.

Don’t confuse a DDoS attack with a mere DoS attack. A DoS attack tries to intrude into your system by sending malicious data from a single source i.e. system. Whereas in DDoS attacks, requests and data come from multiple sources. These DDoS attackers work in a very organized manner to make DDoS attack the most highly impactful cyber-attack. Your system will get overwhelmed with a plethora of requests. The whole system gets wrecked within the blink of your eyes. The next thing you will see the results of a DDoS attack. The network source gets unavailable, some temporarily and some on a permanent basis. The webpages will crash under the burden of a plethora of queries. This also involves the crash of internet bandwidth, RAM, CPU capacities simultaneously.
Types of DDoS attacks
DDoS attacks are also classified into 3 categories-
1. Voluminous DDoS attacks- This is the most frequently occurring DDoS attack out of all. There is a reason behind such an attack happening so frequently. It is very easy to overwhelm a website or server by sending malicious data or unauthentic requests in bulk. Such volume-based DDoS attacks are measured in bits per second (bps). The end goal is to exhaust the bandwidth of the attached networks.
2. Network layer DDoS attacks- A protocol and network layer DDoS attack work in a very different manner. In this kind of attack, packets are sent to the network which is the target in large numbers. These target networks are the network infrastructures or infrastructure of management tools. Network-based DDoS attacks are measured in packets per second (PPS). They consume your actual server resources like firewalls, load balancers, etc.
3. Application layer DDoS attack- This is an application-based DDoS attack. In this attack, your applications will be swamped with malicious requests. Sometimes there is no way left out to deal with such viciously crafted threats disguised in the form of requests. Such application-based DDoS attack is measured in requests per second (RPS).
Working of a DDoS attack
A Denial of Service attack is carried out with the help of a network of plenty of internet-connected machines.
The network is comprised of computer or IoT devices working closely. When such a network wherein so many sensitive machines are working together is hit by malware, the whole network goes down. The DDoS attacker will be operating your complete system from a remote location.
Such attackers are commonly known as bots and their group is referred to as a botnet. As soon as the botnet has set its network from head to toe, they will start instructing the individual bots to act accordingly.
In no time, the operator of the botnet identifies the server and network of the target victim. Then their main aim of corrupting the victim’s IP address comes into action. The next thing one would see that the whole system has crashed down and the traffic coming on to your website will get a “denial of service” as the search result.

Ways for DDoS attack prevention

Website or normal blog owners are no experts and are never able to differentiate between legit and fake visitors. This is why most of the DDoS attackers end up succeeding at attacking your whole system. A DDoS attack can never steal any data from your database, it can just make it offline and unavailable. But irrespective of the purpose or extent of the attack DDoS attack prevention is essential. So, here are some ways with the help of which you can protect your systems from a DDoS attack-
1. By securing your router- Do you know that your Wi-Fi router is a potential gateway to get inside your network? Keeping it safe by constantly changing its password should be your sole responsibility. Never even think of keeping the default password as your chosen one. Default passwords can be very easily guessed. When in doubt, always consult Google to how to set the password for the router or contact the manufacturer. Never let go of the in-built settings of your router. Some of them have a McAfee secured platform that further strengthens the network of your router.
2. By changing passwords on the IoT devices- IoT devices tend to connect to the internet to increase their efficiency and functionality. They also come up with default usernames and passwords. So as soon as you start using the IoT device, make sure you have changed the default credentials. With a bit of research, you will get to know how to change these default settings.
3. By using comprehensive security- Multiple malware types can be dealt with comprehensive security solutions. These can be like McAfee LiveSafe will secure all the devices connected in the network. As most of the botnets are unequipped with any security systems. So the best way to protect from such botnets is to quickly associate with a renowned security solution after doing deep research.