Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack occurs when multiple compromised computers flood a target server or website with excessive traffic, overwhelming its capacity to handle legitimate user requests. This overload causes the service to slow down or become completely unavailable, disrupting normal operations. Attackers often use a network of infected devices, called a botnet, to generate the high traffic. Essentially, it's like a traffic jam intentionally created to block access to a website, making it unusable for genuine users.