How does a DDoS attack work?ĭDoS attacks are carried out with networks of Internet-connected machines. Exploited machines can include computers and other networked resources such as IoT devices.įrom a high level, a DDoS attack is like an unexpected traffic jam clogging up the highway, preventing regular traffic from arriving at its destination. A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of Internet traffic.ĭDoS attacks achieve effectiveness by utilizing multiple compromised computer systems as sources of attack traffic.