A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attackoccurs when multiple systems flood the bandwidth or resources of a targeted system, usually one or more web servers. Such an attack is often the result of multiple compromised systems (for example, a botnet) flooding the targeted system with traffic.
A DDoS attack isn’t the same thing as hacking, although the two can be linked; the perpetrators aren’t attempting to access your website’s files or admin, but instead, they cause it to crash or become vulnerable due to the volume of requests. In some cases, this will be followed by attempts to hack the site when it’s vulnerable, but in the majority of cases, the aim is simply to make the site stop working.
It may sound as if there isn’t any way to avoid a DDoS attack: after all, if someone decides to flood your site with requests, there isn’t much you can do to stop them.
But although you can’t do much to stop someone attempting to damage your site with a DDoS attack, there are steps you can take to ensure that if you are subject to an attack, your site won’t cease working and it won’t be vulnerable to hacking.
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