Tech Teacher

Author/Source: Chris Smith, Fortra See the full link here

Takeaway

This article explains a huge cyber attack called a DDoS attack that recently sent a massive amount of internet traffic. You will learn what this kind of attack is, how it works, and why it is a big problem for businesses trying to keep their online services running.

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Technical Subject Understandability

Intermediate

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Analogy/Comparison

This type of cyber attack is like thousands of people trying to push their way into one small store all at once, making it impossible for real customers to get in or for the store to operate normally.

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Why It Matters

These attacks can stop a company’s websites or online services from working, which means they lose money and customers. For example, the article mentions a Fortune 500 company was hit by a massive attack, causing them problems and forcing them to spend resources to defend themselves.

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Related Terms

DDoS attack, Botnet, Packet amplification, Terabytes per second (Tbps). Jargon Conversion: A DDoS attack is when too much internet traffic is sent to a website or server to make it crash or stop working. A Botnet is a large group of hacked computers or devices used together to send out these attacks. Packet amplification is a method attackers use to send much larger amounts of fake traffic to overwhelm a target. Terabytes per second (Tbps) is a very large measurement of how much internet data is being sent each second during an attack.