What is a DDoS attack and how do I protect a website from one?
Short answer
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack floods a website or network with traffic from many sources to make it unavailable. Small sites are best protected by putting them behind a CDN or DDoS protection service, adding rate limits, and caching as much as possible.
The details
DDoS attacks aim at availability, not data theft, but they are sometimes used as a distraction or for extortion. Plan how you will communicate with customers if the site is down.
Useful next reads and tools
Terms explained
- DDoS attack
- A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack overwhelms a website, server or network with traffic from many sources so that legitimate users cannot reach it.
Sources
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