Page 86 - Cyber Warnings

The mighty have fallen: how even the unlikeliest targets are

going down to DDoS attacks

Informative sources on distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks will often include at least
one warning that nearly every website on the internet is a potential target.

With the current ubiquity of DDoS attacks this is not a needlessly dire warning.

Nearly every website is a potential target.

Yet there is a certain subset of website owners that might just assume these warnings don’t
apply to them because their internet technology and online security knowledge is so far above
that of the average website owner.

Relatedly, there is also a certain subset of website owners that might just end up tremendously
embarrassed when their websites go down to distributed denial of service attacks despite that
impressive knowledge.

Widely distributed attacks

DDoS attacks are used to either slow a target website down to the point that it is no longer
usable, or take the target offline altogether.

Either way the end result of a successful attack is the same: the legitimate users of the website
are denied its services while the attack is ongoing.

DDoS attacks are made possible by botnets, which are networks of internet-connected devices
that have been infected by malware in order to allow attackers to control them remotely.

Using the firepower of all these infected devices, the attacker can overwhelm the resources or
use up the bandwidth of the target website.

These attacks have been an issue for websites and businesses for over 15 years and the issue
is only getting bigger thanks to innovations like DDoS for hire services, DDoS ransom notes and
massive Internet of Things (IoT) botnets.

Successful attacks can now cost larger organizations anywhere from $20,000 and $100,000 per
hour, and that isn’t factoring in the costs associated with the software damage that can
accompany the attacks, the data breaches that can occur while DDoS attacks are used as a
smokescreen, and the loss of user trust and loyalty that so often stems from DDoS-caused
outages.

86 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – May 2017 Edition
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