A denial of service (DoS) attack is a cyberattack that prevents legitimate users from gaining access to services and resources by flooding the target network with fake traffic to overload systems and prevent legitimate traffic.
The purpose of a DoS attack is to slow down or prevent a machine or network from being accessible to its intended users. Cybercriminals may perform a DoS attack to extort money from businesses by disrupting their service.
Organizations dealing with large sums of money, such as the stock market, are often targeted since they must be up and running during core business hours. Globally, the U.S. suffered 44.34% of all reported DDoS attacks in Q1 2022, according to Kaspersky’s Securelist Report.
A DoS attack uses a single IP address as its source, but a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack uses multiple addresses—making this type of DoS attack more challenging to fight. DDoS attacks operate with numerous machines to attack a single target server. Botnets, a group of internet-connected devices controlled by the attacker, are often used to perform a large-scale DDoS attack.
Companies should take precautions to avoid flood attacks and minimize damage if attackers target them. Consider the actions below:
Partnering with an enterprise cybersecurity solution such as Armis can help your business minimize the risks of falling victim to a DoS attack. Armis identifies your attack surface and security gaps to strengthen your cybersecurity resilience.