DoS vs. DDoS Attack: The Key Differences and Preventions

DoS vs. DDoS Attack: A DoS attack overwhelms a server, blocking a website. DDoS, a team of computers, does the same. Both aim to disrupt services by overloading servers or web apps. To find out more about Dos Vs. DDoS attacks are discussed below. 

What should you know about DDoS attacks?

A DDoS attack is done when hackers use multiple devices to send a lot of traffic to your website, which ultimately slows down the loading time of the website you are trying to check out.

What is a DoS Attack?

A Denial of Service attack is done from a single source, in which hackers use tools to send continuous streams of UDP and TCP packets to the website servers. This overloads the website with fake traffic, making the website inaccessible to other users. DoS is simple to execute and is a very common type of cyber threat. 

What is the difference between a working of DOS & a DDoS Attack?

A DoS attack occurs when a hacker attacks a website server using a single device or sends fake requests to the website. As discussed, this slows down the website’s performance or even crashes the site. However, a DDoS attack is done the same way; the only difference is that attackers use more than one device. This is why the source of the DDoS attack is difficult to identify.

How to determine if a Computer is affected by a DoS attack?

Determining from which source the attack is done is challenging; however, there are some ways or hints that let you know if an attack takes place. For instance, you might encounter a poor internet connection or the website you wanted to access suddenly slows down.

Moreover, if all your devices stop working over the internet, then there’s a chance of a DoS attack. If you face such an issue, check the security issues of your network. Thesee attacks overload the website with false traffic.

DoS vs. DDoS Attack: The Key Differences

Types of DoS Attacks and DDoS Attacks

Both of these attcaks, DoS and DDoS, can change to any other form; it’s up to the hacker how they want to overwhelm the traffic. This is done to damage any growing company’s reputation. Here are some types of attacks:

Teardrop Attack

In a teardrop DoS attack, the attacker sends broken pieces of data to a network. The network tries to put these pieces back together, but the tricky design of the pieces confuses the system. Trying to rebuild them exhausts the system, causing it to crash.

Flooding Attack

A flooding attack in a DoS attack sends lots of connection requests to a server, but doesn’t finish the handshake. It’s like sending too much of requests, just like a phone tag game; however, when the server responds. The cyber attacker does not answer. By this, the server gets busy and can even crash due to a lot of requests.

Application-based Attack

An application-based attack, part of DDoS, focuses on Layer 7 of the OSI model. A case is the Slowloris attack, where the attacker sends incomplete HTTP requests, periodically sending HTTP headers. This ties up network resources.

Protocol Attack

A protocol attack, part of a DDoS attack, targets Layers 3 and 4 in the OSI model. For instance, an attacker might manipulate the TCP connection sequence, sending requests but not responding as normal, or using a fake source IP address in the reply. Unanswered requests eat up network resources, making them unavailable.

Volumetric Attack

A volumetric attack in DDoS aims at bandwidth resources. An example is when a botnet, controlled by the attacker, sends lots of request packets to a network. This overwhelms the bandwidth with ICMP echo requests, making services slow down or stop completely.

Prevention from DoS and DDoS Attacks?

Both DoS and DDoS attacks are dangerous, and knowing the prevention steps is necessary. Here are the following steps that you can use to stay safe from these attacks.

Testing of DoS Attack

Practice on a simulation of how DoS works, and what happens when this attack occurs in your system. This is the right practice to do to get more familiar with these attacks. This will let you know the steps to take after.

Create a Backup plan.

Planning what to do after an attack is important, as it includes how to secure data when DoS or DDoS attacks take place. Make sure to have the right team ready who can take quick action once they find an attack on the network. You can use an On-call management tool that helps you collaborate with the team on the spot.

Calculate the Possible Harm

Knowing about the harm caused by DoS is necessary; it’s crucial to know the most affected point in the network.

Know the consequences

After going through any of the attacks, the DDoS or the DoS attacks, check in detail what harm has been done to the system. This can be your learning as well to understand the weakness in the network. And later, if it occurs again, then you may know how to deal with the issue in real time.

Check Network

Make sure to test and check out your network regularly. When hackers know the system isn’t looked after daily, most likely they find it their perfect target. If the network is monitored closely every day, then you may get a hint if an attack could happen.

Conclusion 

Concluding DoS vs DDoS Attack, by knowing that you should be aware of both of these attacks, since they are very common. A DoS attack is done using a single source, and it’s a bit easier for the experts to know where the attack is initiated.DDoS attacks are done by more than one device, and so they are difficult to track. DoS and DDoS attacks both slow down the performance of the site you are accessing. The best way to deal with both of these attacks is to know the prior measures to take once the attack occurs on the network. This way, your team will know what protective measures to take.

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