DDoS is short for "doing-a-style". A DDoS is simply an attack that takes advantage of several network elements for hurting or destroying a target system. A DDoS can be done with many different types of attacks, but all attackers need is a victim. When an attacker sends a sufficient amount of traffic over a network to a target, the target system will exceed its capacity and in some cases, it may not be able to recover from the attack. DDoS mitigation is the art of protecting such systems against such attacks.
There are many ways in which a DDoS can be initiated. Commonly, an attacker may send repeated packets of junk traffic to one or more ISP servers. Then, the same attacker may also send a spoofed attack to the same server and wait for the server to respond. This is often combined with a DoS attack (prevention) technique in which the attacker or attackers repeatedly send ICMP Echo Request (ping) packets to various IP addresses which are connected to the target system.
DDoS attacks may take different forms. The most common method is flooding. In this case, a large number of IP packets (all originating from the attacker) are sent to a single destination server and this server is flooded with ICMP Echo Request (ping) traffic. If the server does not respond, the flood of traffic is routed to other IP addresses on the Internet. The main advantage of this kind of attack is that it overloads the target system and prevents it from processing or responding to traffic.
Another common method of DDoS protection is filtering. Some companies may use filtering to block certain kinds of web applications from being able to access their websites. For example, Internet cafe operators often use DDoS protection techniques to prevent the DDoS attacks on their sites. Some software programs may be available to block some applications while leaving others that are necessary for normal operation of the websites.
Some advanced protection techniques may combine both types of filtering and DDoS protection. The combination of filtering and DDoS protection can be used together for more effective results. The filtering function blocks unwanted web traffic before it gets to the application or the website. The DDoS attacks on the website is prevented before it gets into the control system.
Some companies may choose to use a DDoS mitigation solution or even a DDoS protection service for the protection of their website. These companies use mitigation services that work to prevent the DDoS attacks by preventing them in advance. There is also a DDoS mitigation solution that works to prevent or to limit the number of attacks. The mitigation service uses monitoring and reporting to ensure that there is not too much activity going on. It may also block malicious websites and applications.
Many providers of online services and websites make use of a combination of load balancers and DDoS protection. They will make use of load balancers to spread the application's traffic evenly across many servers. If one server is attacked, the load balancer will distribute the activity evenly to ensure that the website does not suffer a DDoS attack. The load balancer will also help to avoid the issues that come from having too many users accessing the same application. This is often associated with too many users trying to access a particular application at the same time.
There are companies that will offer DDoS protection where one single application or website is protected from the attacks. They will block all of the denial requests to applications and websites. Most providers of online security will recommend that the person looking for online protection make sure that they have an up to date and adequate firewall installed on their computer or else they may be susceptible to denial of service attacks.
