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A denial-of-service attack, or DoS attack, is a unique cyber threat where the hacker floods your systems with traffic, leaving your systems unable to function properly.
While these attacks usually last just a few minutes, they can do lasting damage to your systems and your business.
Key Takeaways
- DoS attacks overwhelm the target server or network with requests, causing it to glitch or crash.
- A DoS attack originates from one computer, while a DDoS attack stems from multiple devices.
- Failing to monitor your systems or implement cybersecurity measures can leave you more vulnerable to DoS attacks.
- Traffic monitoring, rate limiting, and DDoS mitigation tools can all help you prevent these attacks.
What Are DoS Attacks?
In a DoS attack, cybercriminals flood your system, network, or server with traffic, which temporarily prevents it from working properly. There are a few different types of DoS attacks that hackers use to do this.
One common strategy is to use a flood attack to overwhelm the target system with spoofed packets or malicious connection requests it can’t process. Another option is to use a memory buffer overflow attack, which uses manipulative code to overwrite the system’s available memory buffer space.
DDoS Attacks
Some hackers also use distributed denial-of-service attacks, or DDoS attacks. These attacks are similar to a standard DoS attack, but use multiple computers to conduct the attack instead of just one. DDoS attacks are particularly common and increase by more than 50% from 2022 to 2023.
There are many different types of DDoS attacks, but the most common one involves taking control of several Internet of Things (IoT) devices to create a botnet. Using so many devices at once makes it easier for the hacker to overwhelm the system quickly.
DoS attacks don’t last long (many last for just under 10 minutes). However, they can cause an extensive amount of damage in a short period of time. The fallout of a DoS attack can last for days or even weeks as you get your systems back up and running.
Causes of DoS and DDoS Attacks
There are several reasons why a cybercriminal might use a DoS attack. Some hackers use these attacks to sabotage their competitors in business.
In one survey, 59% of respondents who had experienced a DDoS attack and knew their attacker attributed it to a business competitor.
In other cases, hackers will use DoS attacks as a distraction. While the DoS attack is happening, they will use other techniques to breach your system and access sensitive personal or financial information.
The outages caused by a DoS or DDoS attack can cause financial losses and damage to your reputation. Even if your systems are offline for just a few minutes, that outage could result in lost sales.
Additionally, if a DoS attack leads to a data breach, both your information and your customers’ information could be compromised, resulting in even more security concerns.
What Vulnerabilities Make You Susceptible to a DoS Attack?
Some systems are particularly vulnerable to DoS attacks. Many different types of organizations are susceptible to these attacks, from small startups to large corporations.
Government agencies, public universities, and large healthcare systems can all be targeted by DoS attacks as well. Here are some factors that can make your organization particularly vulnerable to DoS attacks.
Poor System Configuration
Failing to configure your systems with cybersecurity in mind can make you a target for DoS or DDoS attacks. Many hackers will look for unsecured public-facing applications, misconfigured firewalls, or exposed server ports as launch points for their DoS attacks.
Additionally, hackers will often target systems with very low network traffic bandwidth and ineffective load balancing strategies. If your system doesn’t have much bandwidth to begin with, the hackers will be able to overwhelm it more easily with even small amounts of traffic.
Irregular Software Updates
Failing to update your software programs on a regular basis can also make you more likely to experience DoS attacks. Outdated software programs often have specific vulnerabilities that hackers are aware of and are likely to exploit.
Lack of System Monitoring
Regularly monitoring your systems can help you catch instances of malicious traffic right away to potentially mitigate the effects of a DoS attack. If you don’t have system monitoring set up, these attacks could go unnoticed, which allows hackers to do more damage.
Unsecured IoT Devices
Cybercriminals often target IoT devices like security systems or smart thermostats to build botnets and conduct DDoS attacks. These devices are particularly easy to hack, because they aren’t usually updated on a regular basis and are often overlooked in a standard cybersecurity strategy.
If you have several unsecured IoT devices associated with your business, cybercriminals could use malware to take control of them and launch a DDoS attack.
What Preventative Measures Can You Take?
Although DoS and DDoS attacks can be very dangerous, there are things you can do to prevent them from harming your organization. Here are some of the steps you can take to protect your systems from these devastating cyberattacks.
Rate Limiting
Rate limiting is a technique for managing network resources that can help prevent DoS and DDoS attacks.
This process limits the number of requests that can be made to the server at any given time. This prevents a single source of traffic from overwhelming your available resources and causing a system crash.
Traffic Monitoring
24/7 monitoring can help you identify network security issues right away. By taking action immediately, you can prevent a DoS attack from causing long-term damage to your systems. It can also help you separate legitimate traffic from malicious traffic and help you fine-tune your cybersecurity strategy.
Monitoring your own networks can be challenging, especially if you’re working with a small team. Working with a third-party monitoring service, such as an MSP, can help you ensure that no traffic abnormalities fall under the radar.
Software Updates
Schedule time to keep all your software programs updated so hackers can’t exploit them. There are many software programs that can help you find new updates and patches and automatically install them. Large updates may need to be conducted at night to avoid disrupting operations.
In particular, make sure to update the software on your IoT devices regularly, and replace the hardware when it becomes outdated as well.
DDoS Protection Tools
There are many DoS and DDoS threat mitigation tools on the market. For example, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud all have DDoS mitigation tools available as part of their web services.
These tools monitor the threat landscape and alert you to any potential attack traffic that needs to be addressed. They can also implement protections at both the web application layer and the network layer, which helps control the flow of traffic without interfering with the experience for legitimate users.
How Can Tech Advisors Help Your Company?
Tech Advisors is an MSP offering comprehensive IT and cybersecurity services. Our expert team will help you build a cybersecurity strategy to protect from DoS attacks and other current threats.
We serve as an alternative to an in-house IT department, providing personalized services on an appropriate scale. If you are targeted by a DoS attack, Tech Advisors will help you respond right away to prevent damage to your systems and your business.
