In a Denial of Service (DoS) attack, someone launches a cyberattack targeting a computer or web server with the intent of temporarily or permanently disrupting the network. A DoS attack is carried out by flooding the computer or server with meaningless, superfluous requests.
The goal is to slow down or take down the server, preventing it from handling legitimate requests and traffic. DoS attacks can cost a business time, money, and reputation.
Purpose of a DoS attack
A denial of service attacks is designed to overwhelm a machine or server with excessive requests, with the ultimate goal of slowing down or taking down the server.
In attempting to handle the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of excess requests, the server can’t handle legitimate user requests.
DoS attacks typically target high-profile web servers such as banks or credit card companies. Attacks may transpire as revenge, blackmail, or activism techniques. Whatever the motivation, the result is the same: Deprive legitimate users of a service or resource.
Signs of a DoS attack
- Unusually slow network performance
- Unavailability of a particular web site
- Inability to access any website
- A dramatic increase in the number of spam emails
Types of DoS attacks
The most common type of DoS attack involves flooding a network server with requests, overloading it with traffic. The overwhelmed server then is unavailable to legitimate users.
There are several types of DoS attacks:
- Smurf Attack: Sends Internet Control Message Protocol broadcast packets to many hosts with a spoofed source IP address that belongs to the target machine. The target responds and becomes flooded with those responses.
- SYN Flood: Sends a number of requests to connect to the target server that can’t be completed. The connection queues fill up and unavailable for any other requests.
- Buffer Overflow: Data transferred to a buffer exceeds the storage capacity, and then the data overflows into another buffer – one the data was not intended to enter.
- Ping of Death: Sends a ping request that is larger than 65,536 bytes, which is the maximum size that IP allows, causing a buffer overload.
How to protect yourself from a DOS attack
DoS attacks can prove to be costly to businesses – in lost revenue, time, and reputation. To avoid becoming a victim of a DoS or DDoS attack, businesses can take the following preventative measures:
To avoid becoming a victim of a DoS or DDoS attack, businesses can take the following preventative measures:
- Enrol in a DoS protection service that detects abnormal traffic flows and redirect traffic away from your network
- Create a Disaster Recovery Plan to ensure proper communication, mitigation, and recovery of data in case of an attack
- Secure all endpoint connections
- Install a firewall and restrict traffic
- Evaluate your security settings and follow good security practices.
Conclusion
Staying vigilant and implementing good security practices can prevent your business from falling victim to a cyberattack.
For more information contact Ryan Danvers at ABACON IT on 072 601 2858.
Author: Ryan Danvers
ABACON IT