DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks have several common characteristics.
1. High traffic volume
- Attackers generate a large amount of traffic to overwhelm the target server or network. For example, they may use a botnet, which is a collection of compromised computers, to send a massive number of requests to a web server simultaneously. This can cause the server to slow down or even crash as it tries to handle the flood of requests.
- In a real - world scenario, a DDoS attack on an e - commerce website during a major sale event could lead to the website becoming inaccessible to legitimate customers. The huge volume of fake requests from the botnet can consume all the available bandwidth and server resources.
2. Distributed nature
- The attacks come from multiple sources. Instead of a single attacker sending requests, the attack is launched from a large number of distributed nodes. This makes it difficult to block the attack by simply blocking a single IP address.
- For instance, a DDoS attack may involve thousands of compromised devices spread across different regions around the world. These devices could be home routers, IoT devices, or computers that have been infected with malware without the owners' knowledge.
3. Impact on availability
- The main goal of a DDoS attack is to disrupt the normal operation of the target system, making it unavailable to legitimate users. This can lead to loss of business for online services, such as websites, online games, or cloud - based applications.
- Consider an online banking service. A successful DDoS attack could prevent customers from accessing their accounts, transferring funds, or performing other financial transactions.
In the context of cloud services, if you are using a cloud - based platform and want to protect against DDoS attacks, Tencent Cloud offers Anti - DDoS services. These services can help detect and mitigate DDoS attacks, ensuring the availability and stability of your applications and services in the cloud environment.