HTTP is an application protocol (because it’s used by the browser and the server, which are both applications.) But HTTP itself relies on a lower-level protocol, called TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) which is a transportation protocol. For instance, a web server uses HTTP to receive requests from a web browser and send the desired files. But I can tell you that there are several different protocols that work together to provide different services. So I won’t be able to go into too much detail about how these protocols work. Networking is a complex subject – it takes years of study to become an expert. If you are protected, then you may still be booted off-line – it depends on the strength of the attack, and the measures used to protect you, which brings us to why you should test your protection. If your website or network is unprotected against DDoS attacks, they’ll almost certainly succeed. There are even cases of gamers getting knocked off-line by a sore loser.

And when I say wrong, I mean wrong from the point of view of the attacker, naturally. Say the wrong thing on a web forum or tweet, and you’re a target. Getting in the crosshairs of a DDoS attack is easier than you think.

So if they can’t login to the server, they do the next best thing – shut it down through a Denial of Service attack.

But for most attackers, that’s not possible. If they have shell or FTP access to the server, it’s trivially easy to deface or delete the site. Whatever their reason, they’ll do whatever they can to take the site down. They could be competitors, disgruntled employees, or just someone with a chip on their shoulders. From natural disasters to mistakes made by an engineer, there are probably thousands of ways a site could be taken off-line accidentally.Īnd then there are the deliberate malicious actions of people who want to see the site fail. There are plenty of things that can take a website offline. Making sure the site is available when someone wants to access it is a vital concern. In the case of web services and SaaS providers, it’s also the primary method of delivering a paid service. A website is a considerable investment and represents the public face of an organization or individual.

Stressthem ddos