Denial-of-Service attack

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A Denial-of-Service attack (DoS) is when someone tries to stop someone else from viewing parts of the internet. People who have slower internet connections, such as dial-up, are affected more by attacks.[1][2][3]

Types[change | change source]

There are different kinds of DoS attacks:

  • Flood attack - This is when a system gets too much internet traffic (people trying to connect to it). The traffic uses bandwidth and the internet servers slow down and eventually stop.[4]
  • Logic and software attacks - Internet packets are sent that are supposed to use bugs in the software or system. These attacks are easier to defend against because firewall or software patches usually correct the problem.[4]
  • Distributed Denial-of-Service attack - This type of attack uses either flood attacks or logic attacks, but it uses many different computers under the attacker's control (see Botnet). This type of attack is one of the most often used, and usually against company websites. This type of attack is often the hardest to prevent, track, and stop.[2][3]

History[change | change source]

In the 1990s and early 2000s, many web companies were hit by DoS attacks. For example, Microsoft was affected by DoS attacks in early 2001. Many users were unable to access the Microsoft website and many Microsoft services.[2][3] On June 10, 2014, Evernote was targeted by a DDoS attack for 24 hours. Sean Anders also invented a program that can stop DDoS

References[change | change source]