Denial of Service (DoS)

Definition:

A Denial of Service (DoS) attack is an attempt by an attacker to disrupt the normal functioning of a network, system, or service by overwhelming it with excessive traffic or resource requests, causing it to become unavailable.

Use Cases:

• Used by attackers to take down websites or online services by flooding them with traffic, making them inaccessible to legitimate users.
• Employed in competitive or retaliatory attacks to disrupt business operations.
  
  

Related Terms:

• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
• Botnet
• Traffic Flooding
• Rate Limiting
  
  

Questions and Answers:

• What is the difference between DoS and DDoS attacks?
  A DoS attack is launched from a single source, while a DDoS attack involves multiple sources (often using botnets) to overwhelm the target.
  
  
• How can organizations protect against DoS attacks?
  Organizations can protect against DoS attacks by using firewalls, traffic filtering, and rate-limiting techniques to control the flow of incoming traffic.
  
  
• What are the effects of a successful DoS attack?
  A successful DoS attack can lead to downtime, loss of revenue, and damage to the target's reputation due to service unavailability.