What is DDoS ?
DDoS = Distributed Denial of Service
As well as the more widely known viruses and worms that can wreak havoc on any network, businesses and organisations are increasingly becoming the target for massive, orchestrated denial of service attacks. A distributed DOS attack usually includes traffic generated by large numbers of host computers. These hosts may be in multiple geographic regions, and often are served by multiple ISPs or via “botnets”.
The sole purpose of a DDoS attack is to disrupt the target’s normal operations, and it is often followed by blackmail demands by the perpetrators in return for switching off the attack or not repeating it.
By essentially flooding the network resources with bogus connection traffic, a successful DDoS attack on a system can prevent any transactions from being processed, and web services from being accessed, whilst it is underway, with clearly disastrous consequences and a totally unacceptable risk for the business or organisation.
DDoS is a growing and very real threat to any organisation that carries out mission-critical, high-volume and/or 24/7 demand online transactions or interactions, including:
- Banks and other financial institutions
- Payment gateways
- Utilities
- E-commerce and online retailers
- Internet Service Providers
- Airlines
- Online gambling
- Online gaming
- Media organisations
- Government and semi-government departments
- Entertainment venue and booking agencies
- Hotel reservation systems
Any business or organisation that needs to be totally reliable and responsive in its online presence really needs to factor in their requirement for a robust defence against DDoS with near-instant response: a Webscreen Technology appliance.