| Term | Description |
| DDoS | DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) is a type of external Internet attack, in which multiple sources attack a single target system, with the goal being denial of service for its users. DDoS attacks flood the target system with incoming messages at a rate much higher than it can process, therefore slowing it down to a level where it is rendered useless to users. Usualy the intruders that initiate DDoS attacks break into a system (or a few systems) and make it the DDoS master that (by using some DDoS daemon software) manages other (100s even 1000s) "slave" compromised systems, whose sole purpose is to distribute the attack over multiple sources, when initiated. Whenever the DDoS attack is initiated, the multiple slave systems are instructed by the master to launch the DDoS attack and flood the end target system simultaneously, rendering it useless for legitimate users. Note: The multiple systems involved in a DDoS that initiate the flood are most often compromised systems that can be considered victims of the attacker as well as the final target system. |