A ddos attack is a type of cyber-attack that aims to make an online (server, service, or network) unavailable to legitimate users by deliberately overloading it with excessive data from multiple computers or devices. Flooding with traffic makes it either slow, unresponsive or completely unavailable. There are many forms of DDoS attacks with each one disrupting services in its unique manner. This blog will discuss the most common forms of DDoS attacks and simply explain them.
Volume-Based Attacks
Volume-based attacks are the most sorts of DDoS attacks. In this type, the goal will be to overwhelm the target by simply sending huge quantities of data. So volume attacks aim at overwhelming the network through more packet transfer than it can handle ethically, thereby causing it to slow down or completely crash. The traffic from volume-based attacks can be rallied from the wide network, containing any number of computers or devices, starting from as low as several thousand towards millions.
An example of a common volume-based attack is the UDP Flood. In this attack, a flood of UDP datagrams is sent to multiple ports on the targeted server. The server will try to connect with the ports, trying to respond to each request, and it soon gets exhausted of resources because all requests are fake.
Protocol-Based Attacks
Protocol-based attacks focus on defects in the underlying network protocols that servers use to communicate with other systems. They mainly contribute towards exploiting the weak manner in which the server processes network protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol or Internet Control Message Protocol. The attacker can utilize such weaknesses and form partial or malformed requests to overwhelm the target server.
One of the best-known kinds of attacks using protocol is SYN flooding. The SYN flood attack is when the attacker sends lots of connection requests to the target server but never finishes the job. When this happens, the server stalls or crashes after filling its memory with a ton of in-progress connections.
Application Layer Attacks
Application attacks tend to be more sophisticated and focused compared with volume- or protocol-based attacks. Most frequently, these kinds of attacks target a specific service, like a website or an online application itself, to prove vulnerability at the level of the application code. The intended possibility would be to slow down the application and deny access to the legitimate users having access to this application.
HTTP flood is one of the best-known examples of an application-layer attack. This process involves attackers sending a bazillion HTTP requests to target web servers, which in turn appear to be genuine users and hence difficult to block these attacks. HTTP Flood can cause partial or full crashes on the target site, especially if the site relies on web applications for service.
Hybrid DDoS Attacks
Hybrid DDoS attacks exploit characteristics from various types of attacks in an attempt to leverage their potency by making them harder to defend against. For example, the attacker may combine a volume-based attack with a protocol-based attack, putting traffic overload and protocol weaknesses together to subdue the target.
Hybrid attacks are particularly dangerous as they tend to require more sophisticated defense mechanisms to detect and stop them. An effective defense must consider each attack individually and in conjunction.
Conclusion
Among DDoS attacks, there are many forms, and understanding them may better allow us to be prepared and to defend against such an attack. From flooding networks with the sheer volume of traffic to exploiting particular weaknesses on servers to prevent certain services from working, DDOS Attack can wreak havoc. However, as long as proper security measures are established, it is possible to defend against these attacks and keep your online services up and running.
