A Denial of Service (DoS) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal functioning of a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming it with a flood of illegitimate requests, thereby making it unavailable to legitimate users.
DoS attacks aim to exhaust the resources of the target system, such as bandwidth, memory, or processing power, causing a significant slowdown or complete unavailability. These attacks can be executed in various ways, such as sending massive amounts of traffic, exploiting vulnerabilities in the target system, or consuming all available connections.
Common Types of DoS Attacks:
- Volume-based Attacks: These include attacks that aim to consume the bandwidth of the target. Examples are UDP floods, ICMP floods, and other high-bandwidth attacks.
- Protocol Attacks: These focus on exhausting resources of network infrastructure devices. Examples include SYN floods and Ping of Death.
- Application Layer Attacks: These target specific applications or services. Examples include HTTP floods and Slowloris attacks.