SYN Flood

A SYN flood is a type of cyberattack that overwhelms a server's ability to handle legitimate connection requests. When a device connects to a server, it sends a "SYN" message to start the process. In a SYN flood, malicious actors send many of these SYN requests but don’t complete the connection, leaving the server waiting and open to be overwhelmed. This consumes resources, slows down or crashes the server, and prevents real users from accessing the service. It’s like a best-effort congestion, exhausting the server’s ability to respond to genuine connection attempts.