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Plenty of gamers havetried to log on to their favorite live-service game, only to encounter login queues, crashes, and downed servers. While natural traffic can sometimes cause these situations,DDoS attacksare just as likely the culprit. While many gamers know a DDoS attack means they probably won’t be able to play for a bit, less know exactly what they are.
In short,DDoS attacksaremalicious attempts at disrupting the service of a normal server by flooding it with fake traffic. An apt comparison would be like filling a highway full of empty cars preventing actual commuters from merging and reaching their destinations. By doing so, they seek to cost companies money, customers, and reputation. This form of digital warfare is surprisingly easy to do–and just as hard to prevent.
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What is a DDoS Attack?
DDoSstands fordistributed denial-of-service. These malicious attacks seek to overwhelm a single server by launching attacks from multiple compromised computers, servers, and other devices. These invaders,calledbotsorzombies, are controlled by a single source, referred to as theattacker. After networking bots together, the attacker sends them to a single server to clog its service with an abundance of false login attempts.
TheseDDoS attacks can spoof hundreds or thousandsof individual login IP addresses, easily overwhelming unprepared servers. By doing so, the attacker can make a server crash, preventing legitimate players from connecting. There are many types of DDoS attacks, and the most complex assaults often combine multiple techniques at once. While they vary in specifics, they all seek the same end goal–denial of service.
How to Prevent a DDoS Attack
Preventing or managing the fallout of a DDoS attack is harder than it seems. The key to doing so isidentifyingnormal traffic from false traffic. Cutting off all traffic prevents legitimate customers from interacting with the game or service–and plays right into the attacker’s hands. Because of the variety of complexity and techniques used by attackers, mitigating DDoS attack impact involves multiple solutions.
Regardless of how a service prepares for DDoS attacks, it is almost impossible to make one truly impervious to their effects. As anti-DDoS technology develops, DDoS attackers will surely develop more sophisticated and complex attack strategies as well. In the meantime, understanding what aDDoS attackis–and being patient with besieged services–is the best way most gamers can help.
