A DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service Attack is when cybercriminals overwhelm a network or its servers by sending too much traffic. There are various forms of attacks that could be conducted, such as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) which may cause the servers to overload.

As per a 2014 report, more than 900,000 network and service providers (ISPs) and retailers were hit by DDoS attacks in the previous 12 months. The main causes of these attacks are:

hacking

malicious code embedded in websites and software

overloading Web servers

malicious software embedded on the victim’s machine, called a backdoor

problems with security

Source: Over 900,000 Net Services Hit by DDoS Attacks in First 6 Months of 2014

Computer crime

DDoS attacks tend to focus on attacks on website. These typically involve sending a wave of data to a network or server in an attempt to overload the services or resources of a site. Visit https://www.fortinet.com/solutions/enterprise-midsize-business/network-access  to get all the information.

There are various kinds of attacks:

DoS attacks against websites (often malware disguised as a trusted website). An e-mail, text, or pop-up notice informs the targeted website that a DDoS attack is going to happen within a short time frame.

Distributed denial of service attacks on a server. This involves a network of servers that are attacking a target computer or computer network. The computer network is overloaded to the point where the servers are overwhelmed, or the target computer is rendered inoperable.

Distributed denial of service attacks against a website. These types of attacks often involve the use of bots to make multiple attempts on a website. In such an attack, the computer is flooded with junk data, the result of which would eventually be presented as the legitimate content of the site.

This study shows how hackers are targeting the websites of large corporations. DDoS attacks are most often conducted against high profile targets and corporations. Companies that are used as a target include Fortune 500 corporations, web portals, financial institutions, online payments services, e-commerce websites, email and instant messaging providers, healthcare companies, energy producers, and governments.

Though the average size of the DDoS attack is small, their severity can be. An attack can occur within a single hour, a few minutes, or in a matter of hours. The size and rate at which the attacks have occurred have skyrocketed in recent times.

Statistics: DNS Censorship by Lizard Squad Threatened Hundreds of Thousands of Sites (2014)

DDoS attacks show a very large number of attacks. It is important to understand that these types of attacks are carried out almost all the time, but are never reported by the media. It is common for DDoS attacks to be conducted regularly, but little is reported on such incidents.

DDoS attacks are common and dangerous for all computer networks. Network and database servers are almost always included in the DDoS attacks. DNS is also a commonly targeted resource, as these DDoS attacks often originate from a botnet controlled by hackers.

While these DDoS attacks are not common to the majority of Internet users, they are incredibly common for certain groups. This is an important observation, as it suggests that the majority of the attackers are not aware of the attacks.

When the cybercriminals carry out DDoS attacks they are mostly focused on small companies, Web portals, and online retailers.