Flooders

Flooders are individuals or automated programs that overload a system, network, or online service with excessive data or requests. The primary goal of a flood attack is to disrupt normal operations and make the target unavailable to legitimate users. This can manifest in various forms, such as denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

DoS attacks originate from a single source and aim to overwhelm the target with traffic or malicious requests. DDoS attacks, on the other hand, utilize a network of compromised computers, often referred to as a botnet, to launch a coordinated assault from multiple sources simultaneously. This distributed nature makes DDoS attacks more challenging to mitigate.

The impact of a flood attack can range from temporary inconvenience to significant financial loss and reputational damage. Websites may become inaccessible, online services may fail, and communication networks can be disrupted. Defenses against flooding typically involve traffic filtering, rate limiting, intrusion detection systems, and specialized DDoS mitigation services. Understanding the methods and motivations behind flooding is crucial for effective online security.