Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a type of cyber attack aimed at disrupting the availability of a service or network. The goal of a DDoS attack is to overwhelm the target system with a massive amount of requests, causing it to become unresponsive and unavailable. This can be done by flooding the target system with requests from multiple sources, thus making it impossible for it to respond to legitimate requests.

DDoS attacks can be performed with a variety of techniques, such as SYN flood, DNS amplification, and application layer attacks. SYN flood attacks involve sending a large number of SYN packets to the target system, causing it to respond with a SYN-ACK packet, which the attacker then doesn’t respond to, leaving the system waiting for a response. DNS amplification attacks involve spoofing the source IP address of a DNS request, thus amplifying the size of the request. Application layer attacks involve sending requests to the application layer of the target system, causing it to become unresponsive.

DDoS attacks can have a devastating effect on businesses, causing them to lose customers and revenue, as well as damage their reputation. To protect against these attacks, organizations should implement a comprehensive security program, including firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and network monitoring tools. Additionally, organizations should also have a comprehensive incident response plan in place to address any DDoS attack.